A Wimbledon junior player was unlucky to receive a default from her first match of the Championships after accidentally launching her racquet into the crowd after hitting a backhand out of court.
German rising star Ida Wobker, 15, was battling back in the second set of her first-round match against Romania’s Maria Valentina Pop after losing the first set 6-0, when she hit the ball long 30-love down, at 5-5.
Frustrated with her struggle to claw her way into Pop’s service game, Wobker struck the turf with her racquet, letting go of the handle.
But rather than staying on Court 11, the force with which the racquet was flung caused it to bounce off the grass, and into the stands and the watching spectators.
The chair umpire immediately paused the match, calling a supervisor onto the court – and after several minutes inspecting the incident, the contest was called for ‘game, set and match’.
While there is no hard and fast rule for how a player can be defaulted for throwing a racquet or ball in anger, the safety of those involved in the incident is often at the root of whether the harsh punishment is meted out.
Ida Wobker threw her racquet to the ground after missing a straightforward backhand but could not anticipate its bounce into the crowd
The German 15-year-old was defaulted from the girls’ draw in the thick of a second-set comeback on Saturday
Infamously Novak Djokovic was defaulted at the 2020 US Open after hitting a ball behind him which accidentally struck a line judge in the throat.
Despite the Serbian serial champion’s profuse and quick-thinking apologies, time was called on his time in Flushing Meadows.
Five years later, Lorenzo Musetti avoided the same punishment during his French Open quarter-final against Frances Tiafoe when he kicked a loose ball at a line judge which hit her on the chest.
Tiafoe called the decision to continue the tie after the incident ‘comical’, while after his victory, Musetti admitted that he had been ‘a little bit scared’ having not meant to harm the official.
Wobker, who is ranked 24th in the ITF junior rankings, accepted her punishment with minimal fuss, later reposting the opinion of former German professional Barbara Rittner – who serves as a mentor to the young player.
‘(Poo emoji) happens (female shrug emoji) you learn from it!’ Rittner shared on her Instagram story referencing the incident.
When contacted for comment by the Athletic, Wimbledon’s Referees’ Office confirmed that the default was issued against Wobker due to her loose racquet hitting a spectator.
No one in the crowd however was harmed in the incident.
