An unusual and controversial moment marked the first day of Open de Rouen in France. Harriet Dart, a British tennis player and WTA ranking number 62, was widely criticized after complaining about his alleged odor of his opponent during the meeting with French Lois Boisson, currently at the 303 position of the ranking.
It all happened after the 6-0 loss on the first set. Visibly frustrated, Dart went to the chair referee with a phrase that did not go unnoticed by the microphones placed next to the court: “Can you tell you to use deodorant? She smells of evil.”
Harriet Dart asked the umpire to tell her opponent to wear deodorant 😳
She lost the match 6-0 6-3
(h/t )
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter)
The video of the moment quickly spread through social networks and generated a wave of criticism, with many pointing to the lack of sportsmanship of the British player.
Aware of the repercussion, Harriet Dart went public to apologize, recognizing that it was an unfortunate comment made “in the heat of the moment”. “This is not how I want to be seen. I have a lot of respect for Lois and the way I competed. I take responsibility and I will learn from it,” Dart wrote on social networks.
Lois Boisson, in addition to the 6-0 and 6-3 victory, demonstrated Fair Play and a sense of humor when reacting to the controversy. In a social networking publication, he shared a photograph of hers during the game with the caption: “Dove, apparently I need a collaboration,” accompanied by the image of a deodorant.
