Australian Open match paused as ball girl vomits…
The robust situations at this yr’s Australian Open claimed another sufferer Tuesday night time, as a ball girl fell in poor health and vomited on court, halting play for about ten minutes.
It occurred during the first-round match on Margaret Court Arena, between Greek star Stefanos Tsitsipas, the world quantity 35 and a former Open finalist, and Japanese underdog Shinichi Mochizuki, ranked 112.
Mochizuki had claimed the first set 6-4, only for Tsitsipas to peg him back, taking the second 6-3 to stage the match.
An Australian Open match was halted after a ball girl fell in poor health. Stan Sports
The Japanese participant was serving, with an benefit, in the first sport of the third when the chair umpire, Australian Thomas Sweeney, abruptly interrupted him.
“Wait please, wait please,” he said.
A second later, there was a groan from the gang.
“Oh no. A ball girl is getting sick. Yeah, she’s just been sick on the court. We’re going to have to stop and have a clean-up here,” sideline commentator Ryan Harrison said.
“It’s such tough conditions, to be out here all day.”
The incident occurred at one end of the court, behind Tsitsipas, who was standing at the baseline, prepared to obtain.
“Good reaction, I think, from the umpire, everyone. The players, very understanding, as they should be,” commentator John Fitzgerald said.
The incident transpired during Stefanos Tsitsipas’ first-round match on Jan. 20, 2026. Getty Images
“Yeah, she just started vomiting, didn’t she? She was feeling ill. Probably too brave to say it a bit earlier.”
“Yes, you’re trying so hard, in that position, to stay out there, and you don’t want to cause a problem at all. The last thing you want to do is disrupt the match,” Harrison agreed.
“But these ball youngsters are out right here, and they work so laborious throughout the day. It’s scorching, they’re out right here long days, they’re having to run, dash. So many sprints throughout the match.
“The physicality of it on the players is there, but also these ball kids are out here. And it’s brutal conditions sometimes.”
“Sometimes it just comes on so quickly, and the moment to run off the court, you don’t want to, because it’s right in the middle of a point,” another commentator, Robbie Koenig, famous.
“Yeah, I was right here. Sometimes you’ll see the players go and lend a helping hand. There was absolutely no opportunity to do that,” said Harrison.
Stefanos Tsitsipas superior following the win over Japan’s Shintaro Mochizuki. AP
“As soon as she felt it coming on, she was out and into the tunnel, obviously was trying to hold it in, which is quite difficult when you’re feeling that ill.”
The Australian commentary crew was a little faster to cotton on to what was occurring than its counterpart over on the British broadcaster, TNT Sports.
“We’re delayed here. We’ll stop and wait for it to get sorted. Goodness me, everything is going on. Something in the crowd, is it?” they questioned.
Play resumed after about ten minutes, and Tsitsipas went on to win the match 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, 6-2.
“I kept reminding myself to stay present in the moment, to lock in. I felt at times I wasn’t really locked in as I expected myself to be,” he told Harrison afterwards.
“Shinichi also made my life a little bit difficult in the beginning. I was trying to find solutions, and ways to get him out of position, and not dictating as much. And it worked. So really happy with the ending of it.”
He was not requested about the incident with the ball girl during his post-match press convention.
(Unless it got here up when Tsitsipas was talking Spanish to a few of the reporters. Translation from something other than fairly rudimentary French is past me, sorry.)
Tsitsipas will play Czech Tomas Machac in the second spherical. He told Harrison he hoped to “enjoy the fight” against “a great opponent”.
There have been a number of scary incidents involving ball youngsters at this yr’s match.
On the very first day, a ball girl collapsed backwards while stationed in the solar next to the umpire’s chair, during a match between Ekaterina Alexandrova and Zeynep SonMez.
She was helped back to her ft, and appeared to be struggling from dizziness. The gamers and Open employees helped her for about 5 minutes before escorting her off court, as the gang gave her a standing ovation.
Several gamers have also fallen sufferer to the situations and been pressured to retire with cramping, including the seventh seed, France’s Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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