Harriet Dart issues public apology after her ‘deodorant’ comment about opponent Lois Boisson

Harriet Dart complained to the chair umpire about Lois Boisson's body odor during their Open de Rouen first-round match.

Harriet Dart issues public apology after her ‘deodorant’ comment about opponent Lois Boisson

Harriet Dart, Lois Boisson (Image via X/FFT)

A bizarre incident happened during the WTA 250 Open de Rouen. The first-round match between Lois Boisson and Harriet Dart on Tuesday (April 15) saw the latter complaining to the chair umpire about body odor.

Boisson bageled the World No.110 in the opening set, wrapping it up in just 28 minutes. Dart then tried to make a comeback in the following set but was unsuccessful in converting her six break points, dropping her serves four times.

YouTube video

The British No.4 was eventually defeated with a 6-0, 6-3 scoreline. During a change of ends in the second set, Dart asked the chair umpire to tell Boisson to use a deodorant.

Can you tell her to wear a deodorant because she smells really bad?

Harriet Dart asked the chair umpire

Watch the video here:

Dart made those comments when Boisson was walking back to the court and seemed to be out of earshot. The incident made headlines all over the world and Dart faced a lot of criticism for her comments. Many fans even asked the WTA tour to impose a ban on her. Following the backlash, the 28-year-old took to her social media to issue a public apology.

Hey everyone, I want to apologize for what I said on court today, it was a heat-of-the-moment comment that I truly regret. That’s not how I want to carry myself, and I take full responsibility. I have a lot of respect for Lois and how she competed today. I’ll learn from this and move forward.

Harriet Dart wrote on her Instagram story

Check out her post here:

Harriet Dart's Instagram story
Harriet Dart’s Instagram story (Image via Harriet Dart’s Instagram)

Here’s how Harriet Dart and Lois Boisson fared in the 2025 season

The clash with Harriet Dart at the Open de Rouen was Lois Boisson’s first match of the WTA Tour of the season. Before arriving in Rouen, the Frenchwoman played a couple of WTA 125 events at the L’Open 35 de Saint-Malo and in Paris last year.

Harriet Dart (2)
Harriet Dart (Image via X/Wimbledon)

The tournament in Saint-Malo ended in her favor as she lifted her first WTA 125 title by beating compatriot Chloe Paquet in three sets in the final. But in Paris, the former World No.152 gave a walkover to compatriot Fiona Ferro in the first round due to an injury and didn’t play another tournament until the Open de Rouen.

Dart, on the other hand, was playing her seventh WTA event of the season in Rouen. In two of those events (Brisbane and Miami), Dart failed to progress to the main draw events. She has now lost four back-to-back first-round matches.

The winner of five ITF events arrived in Rouen following her exit in the Charleston Open round of 64. She has played in every Grand Slam tournament where her best performance came at Wimbledon as she reached the Wimbledon third round in 2019 and 2024.

Boisson, however, has not yet made her Grand Slam main draw debut. She has so far played only three qualifying rounds at the French Open (from 2021 to 2024).

Dart recently participated in the Billie Jean King Cup Qualifiers. She was part of the team consisting of World No.40 Katie Boulter, World No.59 Sonay Kartal, and Olivia Nicholls. Emma Raducanu, after finally winning four consecutive matches since her successful run at the 2021 US Open, withdrew from the tournament. In her place, Jodie Burrage was added.

Dart, who has so far played 15 ties since making her debut in 2019, was part of the doubles event against Germany. Following Kartal and Boulter’s singles victory, the pair of Dart and Nicholls were defeated by Laura Siegemund and Anna-Lena Friedsam.