“He’s a hustler” – Tennis fans defend the man who fell down the stands to catch Elena Rybakina’s signed ball after her Doha Open 2024 semifinal win

Elena Rybakina defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in straight sets in the semifinal of the 2024 Doha Open to reach her third final of 2024 last night. Despite her spectacular victory, the spotlight shifted away from the Kazakh player after a hilarious incident that took place right after her match. 

After defeating her Russian opponent 6-2, 6-4, Rybakina signed a tennis ball and threw it into the stands. It was going in the direction of a young boy, but then out of nowhere came an old, bald man running towards it. He could not grab onto the railing and, due to his momentum, he fell straight down from the stands and injured himself. He almost took down the kid with him, but luckily, he was not hurt. 

Rybakina will now shift her focus to the final of the Doha Open. She has already won the Brisbane International and the Abu Dhabi Open so far this year and this is her third final in just two months. She will face Iga Swiatek in the final of the Doha Open and it is definitely going to be a match worth tuning into. 

Rybakina has a 3:1 head-to-head record against the World No. 1 and is thus the favorite to win the Doha Open this year. Although Iga Swiatek is the top seed in the tournament, she has defeated Rybakina only once so far, and even that victory came courtesy of a mid-match retirement. 

Fans react to the spectator’s enthusiasm to get Rybakina’s signed ball

After tumbling down from the stands and taking the fall, it was shown that the spectator was safe. He was safe and not seriously hurt. Thankfully, he got the signed ball by Elena Rybakina, which he almost risked his life for. Fans on social media were all in on the discussion about this strange incident. 

Many fans pointed out that whoever catches the ball gets a new iPhone and that must have been the driving force behind the man’s enthusiasm.

“Yea well unlike the men who just receive iPhones for playing Doha 250 as a player gift. The fans or women tennis players have to go catch the ball in the stands to win an iPhone,” a particular tweet read. 

Some other fans pointed out that the man almost took the kid down for him and that he could be seriously hurt, urging Rybakina to stop the tradition in her upcoming matches. For now, though, the Kazakh player is getting ready for her final match against the World No. 1.

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