Stefanos Tsitsipas’ first-round match at the Australian Open against Shintaro Mochizuki was suspended for approximately seven minutes on Tuesday after a ball kid threw up on the court at Margaret Court Arena.
The Greek star was out to avenge the heartache of his first-round exit at Melbourne Park last year and he did just that, besting his Japanese opponent 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 2-6.
But it wasn’t all plain sailing. Things got off to a bad start for the No 31 seed, with Tsitsipas going 6-4 down in the opening set to his Japanese opponent.
The 27-year-old bounced back in the second set, saving a break point in the ninth game to level the tie 1-1.
After a brief pause in play, the pair took to the court again for the third set, but umpires were again forced to stop proceedings shortly after, after a ball kid took ill on the side of the court.
It is understood that the youngster had thrown up at the back of the court, with medics rushing to their aid.
Stefanos Tsitsipas’ first-round match at the Australian Openagainst Shintaro Mochizuki was suspended for approximately seven minutes on Tuesday after a ball kid threw up on the court at Margaret Court Arena
The Greek star (pictured) was out to avenge the heartache of his first-round exit at Melbourne Park last year and he did just that, besting his Japanese opponent 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 2-6
A pause in play then followed, with staff members seen trying to clean the court.
TNT Sports’ commentators had initially been confused about what had caused the delay.
‘We’re delayed here, we’ll stop and wait for it to get sorted. Goodness me, everything is going on,’ one commentator said.
‘Something in the crowd, is it?’
Daily Mail has contacted Tennis Australia for comment.
Two other ball kids have fallen ill in the past two weeks. One girl was helped from the court by Tunisian star Moez Echargui during qualifying last week after she had collapsed on the court. Tennis Australia later confirmed that she was thankfully OK.
Another ball kid worryingly collapsed during Zeynep Sonmez’s win against Ekaterina Alexandrova on Sunday.
Sonmez had stopped the match after the youngster, who was standing next to the umpire’s chair had fallen backwards to the floor. She then appeared to get back to her feet, and attempted to continue her job.
Mochizuki (pictured) got off to a fast start in the match, but was unable to quel the advances of Tsitsipas, who bounced back to win the final three games
The Turkish qualifier quickly ran over to the ball kid’s aid and grabbed her before she fainted again. Medics rushed to her aid and it was later confirmed that she too was OK despite the worring ordeal.
It was the second time a match had been postponed for a lengthy period, after Naomi Osaka’s win against Antonia Ruzic was postponed due to a technical issue with the net.
The red lights on the net posts would not turn off, with the players both opting not to continue until the issue was fixed.
The red lights only flash when the automated line judge system detects that a ball has landed out.
Play would resume again at Margaret Court Arena, with world No 35, Tsitsipas, breaking Mochizuki in the first and seventh games to take a 2-1 lead.
From there, it was plain sailing for the 2023 Australian Open men’s singles finalist, who showcased his brutal power, smashing a booming 210km/h serve past his opponent.
Tsitsipas will now face Czech star Tomas Machac in a huge second-round tie.
