Oct 16 (Reuters) – Rafael Jodar apologised on Friday for swearing at a ball kid during his last-16 match at the Shanghai Masters, with the Spaniard saying that he could not control his emotions when frustrations boiled over.
After losing a point in Wednesday’s win over Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp, Jodar angrily asked the ball kid to hand him his towel, swearing in Spanish.
The chair umpire Jimmy Pinoargote, who also speaks Spanish, gave Jodar a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct. Pinoargote then warned Jodar not to speak like that to ball kids when the 20-year-old argued with him over the violation.
“I shouldn’t have done that to the ball kid. It was my mistake. I respect a lot the ball kids and the umpires in all the matches and all the tournaments. I shouldn’t have treated the ball kid the way I did,” Jodar told reporters after his quarter-final win over Casper Ruud.
“I was very frustrated because how the match was going for me. It was a very close point. I didn’t mean to hurt the feelings of the ball kid or anything, I was just frustrated with me. I couldn’t control my emotions at that point of the match.
“I’ll try not to do it again, because that’s not the right way to treat the ball kids. I respect a lot their job and it wasn’t anything against him or against any ball kids or umpire.”
Jodar, who beat Ruud 4-6 6-4 6-3 to reach the semi-finals on Friday, said the umpire made the right decision and he should have accepted the warning.
The Spaniard also said he would like the opportunity to apologise to the ball kid in person.
(Reporting by Rohith Nair in BengaluruEditing by Toby Davis)