WATCH: Chair Umpire runs behind a spectator who steals Rebecca Marino’s towel at the 2023 Australian Open
Crazy scenes in Melbourne Park as a fan turns towel thief
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Australian Open 2023
The Australian Open has started with a bang, as fans are witnessing some exciting first rounds. Along with these on-court fights, the major is offering fans some unreal and funny scenes too. Players have been victims of these kinds of incidents.
In the women’s singles first-round match between Lin Zhu and Rebecca Marino, an incident took place just after the match ended. Lin won the match in straight sets, 6-2, 6-4. However, after their customary handshake, Rebecca noticed that a fan was taking her towel. She then informed the chair umpire, the veteran James Keothavong, who immediately came down and started sprinting toward the fan.
This year’s Australian Open had just started, and fans had already started experiencing such funny incidents. The netizens also responded in a funny way, talking about how tennis is getting crazier over the years.
It was later revealed that James apprehended the person who stole Rebecca’s towel and took a selfie with him. Fans are expecting such funny events in the coming days of the Australian Open, as these stories give a lot of entertainment along with the intense matches.
Rafael Nadal lost his racquet in the first round at the Australian Open
A similar incident took place on day one of the Australian Open and involved the top seed, Rafael Nadal. He was up 4-3 against Jack Draper when he wanted to repair his racquet and asked for a stringer. Instead, the ball boy took Rafa’s racquet by mistake, and the Spaniard laughed while telling the chair umpire.
The players and the umpire had a bit of a laugh about it and later continued playing when the 36-year-old took a new racquet from his bag. This was the first incident of this kind for the defending champion, and the fans loved the scenes during the first set.
The Australian Open’s defending champion had a mixed first round all in all. He was seen arguing with the umpire a couple of times during the course of the match. After his racquet incident, he was upset that the towels are placed far from his place and the ball boys are no longer serving the players with towels, costing him his break time.
And later in during the match, as rain interrupted, the match had to continue under a closed roof. Nadal had an issue with the bright lights too and complained to the chair umpire, saying they were right into his eyes.
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