Gael Monfils was disqualified from the 2024 Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) in Oslo, and now we know the reason.
Yesterday, after his 0-3 loss to Alex de Minaur in Oslo, shocking news came from the UTS organizers, announcing that the French player was disqualified from the tournament.
At the time of the initial statement, not much was known. They announced that Lucas Pouille would replace his fellow compatriot, and the reasoning for the disqualification was only brief.
According to the initial statement, Monfils was disqualified from the 2024 UTS in Oslo because of "a code of conduct violation stemming from his behaviour towards the tournament supervisor."
Now, the tournament organizers shared an official statement, explaining that the incident occurred in the locker room when Monfils and tournament supervisor, Stephane Apostolou, had "a playful exchange" that "resulted in a minor injury to the supervisor."
"Yesterday a playful exchange in the locker room between Gael Monfils and the tournament supervisor Stephane Apostolou resulted in a minor injury to the supervisor."
According to the tournament organizers, there wasn't any intention to hurt the supervisor, but still, he had to be disqualified from the tournament because of injuring the supervisor.
"UTS is 100% satisfied that there was no malice intended from Gael but because there was an injury sustained by an official, however minor, we felt there was no alternative but to disqualify Gael."
According to the statement, the French player accepted the fact that he had to be disqualified from the tournament and parted ways with Apostolou in a friendly way.
"Gael accepted the disqualification and he and the supervisor parted on friendly terms. See you next time Gael."
It's a really interesting explanation from the UTS, but unfortunately for many fans, one that leaves maybe even more questions than answers. What exactly was "playful exchange" and what was the extent of the injury? We'll probably never know.
The French player tried to bring some more clarity on the situation as well, releasing a statement on what happened during the incident.
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