French wildcard Arthur Gea was forced to leave the court during his first-round French Open match against Karen Khachanov after pleading with officials for an emergency toilet break
A tennis star was forced to rush off his Roland Garos clash as he gave an X-rated explanation to a startled umpire.
Arthur Gea informed officials he was going to “s*** on the court” during his first-round clash against Karen Khachanov. The French wildcard summoned the doctor during the opening set and, speaking in French, explained he had the “s***s”.
Behind 1-4 with a game point on his serve, the 21-year-old then dashed to the side of the court and enquired where the doctor was once more. They gathered by the umpire’s chair, and Gea made it obvious that he needed the toilet, despite being mid-game with no changeover scheduled.
“I can’t, I can’t, just explain the situation,” the world No. 135 pleaded with them. “Who is the doctor? I’m going to s*** on the f***ing court. Yeah, yeah, I’m sick.”
One official acknowledged Gea had been battling stomach issues, and the wildcard kept conversing with the doctor in French. Another member of the group was overheard saying: “Yes, if it’s urgent, he can do that,” reports Wales Online.
Gea took a sip of water and returned to the baseline to complete the game. He claimed the next point to secure the game, and instantly sprinted off court while trailing 2-4, despite it not being a changeover.
Gea came back and proceeded to drop the first set 6-3. He made the second set more competitive, but still dropped it in a tiebreak, and Khachanov dominated to secure a 6-3 7-6(3) 6-0 triumph.
The 21-year-old had been making his French Open main draw debut, but was unable to register a victory.
He made his debut in a Grand Slam main draw at the Australian Open earlier this year, stunning No. 17 seed Jiri Lehecka before succumbing to former champion Stan Wawrinka in a five-set nail-biter.
While Gea managed to complete his match, the same couldn’t be said for Canadian tennis ace Gabriel Diallo, who had to bow out midway through his opening match on Court 12.
The world No. 49 took an off-court medical timeout while James Duckworth was leading 6-3, 4-1. He returned only to have to concede defeat.