Former world No 1 calls for tennis star to be ‘suspended for months’ after ‘dangerous’ incident
Rennae Stubbs says Terence Atmane’s “dangerous” actions at the Shanghai Open might have been the worst thing she’s ever seen on a tennis court.
In Atmane‘s first-round qualifier for the Masters 1000 event, the Frenchman hurled his racket at the crowd, but fortunately for them, a railing stopped anyone from getting hit.
The 24-year-old was given a point penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct by the chair umpire, but former world No 1 women’s doubles player Stubbs was incredulous that he wasn’t defaulted.
This is actually really disturbing
Way worse than anything Kyrgios or Rublev have done
Very concerning situation https://t.co/vXW0zuvvBZ
— Gaelen (@GaelenBet) October 7, 2026
Atmane would later go on to apologise following his defeat to Bernard Tomic but Serena Williams’ coach said the left-hander is clearly not learning his lesson.
Indeed, he only received a warning after kicking his racket into the crowd at the Hamburg Open earlier this year.
More Tennis News
‘Wash it for me’ – Iga Swiatek under fire as ex-world No 5 reveals surprise Madrid Open requests
Carlos Alcaraz told to stop complaining and follow the lead of Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic
Want more from Tennis365? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for tennis coverage you can trust.
She said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast, “Atmane should have been defaulted. Done and dusted. He had already had a warning. F****** giving him a point penalty.
“Are you kidding me? Off the court! There are no excuses for that. That is so dangerous what he did. This could be the worst thing I have ever seen on a tennis court, and I’ve seen a lot of bad things.”
Her co-host Caitlin Thompson added that it was a “miracle” that nobody was hurt and that the likes of Atmane, Daniil Medvedev – who was defaulted at the China Open – and Arthur Fils, who smashed multiple rackets after his Shanghai Open exit, were acting like “babies”.
Stubbs agreed that the Atmane incident was on a par with when Denis Shapovalov smashed a ball in anger and struck umpire Arnaud Gabas, who suffered a fractured eye socket during a Davis Cup tie in 2017.
The Australian added, “This guy [Atmane] has a propensity to do whatever the f*** he wants with his racket and get away with it. This guy should be suspended for months for what he’s done this year.”
In addition to his default, Medvedev lost his prize money and ranking points from the Beijing tournament after accidentally hitting a ball into a spectator’s face.
Stubbs thinks there needs to be a blanket ban if a player hits a ball or throws a racket into the crowd, but for the time being, no such rule changes have been implemented.
READ NEXT: Carlos Alcaraz makes last-minute schedule change after Shanghai shock and Six Kings Slam move
