A ball kid vomiting on the court caused a delay during a match at the Australian Open. Greek player Stefano Tsitsipas was up against Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki in the tournament’s first round on Tuesday.
After Mochizuki won the first set 6-4, Tsitsipas made a comeback, taking the second set 6-3. However, as the third set began, a ball kid fell sick at the back of the court, leading to a temporary halt in play with audible discomfort from the crowd.
Medical staff promptly attended to the unwell ball kid, while Tsitsipas and Mochizuki waited on their benches. This incident occurred shortly after Naomi Osaka’s match against Antonia Ruzic was suspended at the Rod Laver Arena in Melbourne.
TNT Sports’ commentators were puzzled initially about the reason for the interruption in the Mochizuki versus Tsitsipas game. They mentioned, “We’re experiencing a delay here, we’ll pause and wait for the issue to be resolved.”
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“So much happening, could it be something in the audience? Earlier at Rod Laver Arena, there was a technical problem,” one commentator remarked.
The court was cleaned, and the game resumed after an eight-minute break. Tsitsipas went on to win the next two sets 6-2, securing a second-round match against Czech player Tomas Machac. Unfortunately, this was not the first instance of a ball kid falling ill during this year’s tournament.
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Earlier in the week, another ball kid collapsed during a match between Zeynep Sonmez of Turkey and Russian player Ekaterina Alexandrova. Sonmez rushed to assist the girl after she fell near the umpire’s chair.
After helping the girl to a shaded area, play resumed following a brief six-minute delay. Sonmez recounted the incident, stating, “She insisted she was okay, but it was evident she was not. I told her to sit down and have a