Ahead of the French Open, tennis is again reckoning with one of its strangest approaches to enforcing its rules.Thursday at the Hamburg Open, Germany’s Daniel Altmaier was frustrated after Tommy Paul of the U.S. broke his serve to lead their quarterfinal 6-2, 5-4.He did what plenty of tennis players have done, smashing his racket by throwing it down onto the clay court. Then he kicked it once, sending it bouncing into his bench, before kicking it again — sending it flying into a crowd of spectators at pace.
Careful, Daniel 😬#bitpandahamburgopen pic.twitter.com/I7DsnjZMI4
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) May 21, 2026A fan in the crowd passed it back, and Altmaier, the 27-year-old world No. 65, held up a hand in apology after ascertaining that no one was hurt. Paul, who had sat down for the changeover at 5-4, looked at the chair umpire, Fergus Murphy, with some expectation. A member of the American’s team stood up and gestured to indicate what had happened.And then Murphy issued Altmaier a code violation for racket abuse, rather than the more serious punishment of a default: Immediate disqualification from the match.The ATP rulebook’s passage on racket abuse states: “Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a racket or other equipment within the precincts of the tournament site.“For purposes of this rule, abuse of rackets or equipment is defined as intentionally, dangerously and violently destroying or damaging rackets or equipment or intentionally and violently hitting the net, court, umpire’s chair or other fixture during a match out of anger or frustration.”
