Pavel Kotov leaves ball girl shaken with ugly Australian Open blowup

Pavel Kotov defeated Arthur Rinderknech to begin his Australian Open run on Sunday, but will perhaps be more known for his questionable activity during the match, and not exactly what led to the final score. Kotov was upset at his play at one point in the contest, which he eventually won in five sets.

Kotov took his frustration out on a tennis ball, smashing it toward the wall behind him where a ball girl was visibly shaken and seemingly went to take cover. Though the ball didn’t land close to her, the ferocity of the hit was enough to cause her to turn away. Kotov didn’t appear to notice the result of his outburst.

The blowup was posted by Wide World of Sports in Australia on their Instagram page. A post shared by Wide World of Sports (@wwos) If Kotov did hit the ball girl, he could’ve been disqualified from the tournament. Kotov, 25, is a native of Moscow, Russia who turned pro in 2016. Russian and Belarussian tennis players are still not allowed to have flags listed near their names as a result of the Russia Ukraine War.

Kotov’s win over Rinderknech puts him in the second round of the Australian Open, his first opening round victory in a Grand Slam during his career. Kotov’s currently ranked No. 64 in the world among singles competitors, the highest he’s been listed in his pro career..