Tennis player apologizes for asking umpire to make opponent wear deodorant: “She smells really bad”

It was an image that spread across the world —for all the wrong reasons. British tennis player Harriet Dart found herself right at the center of a very unusual and uncomfortable moment during her first round match against Loïs Boisson at the WTA 125 tournament in Rouen.

During a change of ends Dart asked the umpire to have a word with her opponent - unaware that the conversation was picked up by a courtside microphone, broadcast to the whole world and instantly spread like wildfire on social media. “Can you tell her to wear deodorant because she smells really bad?” the British player was heard to say, without any discretion.

Dart apologizes for offhand comment

Dart, who ended up losing the game 6-0, 6-3, backtracked afterwards, quickly acknowledging that she was in the wrong and publicly apologized.

“Hey everyone, I want to apologise for what I said on court today, it was a heat-of-the-moment comment that I truly regret,” Dart posted on Instagram hours after the match. “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..”

Boisson, who slumped down 37 places to to No 303 in the WTA rankings, will face Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima, ranked 51st, in the next round.

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