PARIS — Maxime Hamou was banished from the French Open on Tuesday after the French player kissed and cuddled a TV journalist following his first-round exit, the French tennis federation said.
“The management of the tournament has decided to revoke Maxime Hamou’s accreditation following his reprehensible behaviour with a journalist yesterday,” the FFT said in statement.
Footage of the interview showed Hamou pulling the female journalist close before kissing her on the side of the head. As the reporter looked embarrassed and tried to push him away, he kissed her again.
After answering a question Hamou, who is ranked 287 in the world, kissed her a third time, and pulled her toward him while she tried to peel his hand off her chest.
“We sincerely regret the incident that occurred during yesterday evening’s interview between Maly Thomas and Maxime Hamou,” Eurosport said in a statement to Reuters.
“The behavior of the interviewee was highly inappropriate and we do not condone such conduct in any way.
“Maly is a highly respected journalist and we are pleased that a full apology is being offered.”
“Had it not been live, I would have punched him with a right,” Thomas was quoted as saying by The Huffington Post.
French Sports Minister Laura Flessel also blamed Hamou.
“No, a live aggression is nothing funny. Never allow it to happen, never trivialize such things,” she wrote on Twitter.
In Tuesday’s matches, world number one Andy Murray defied expectations that he would struggle at this year’s Open by beating Russia’s Andrey Kuznetsov 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0 in the first round, but day three at Roland Garros still served up plenty of other upsets.
Top seed Murray, who came into the tournament in poor form and suffering from illness, saw out a mostly regulation win over his 73rd ranked opponent — the perfect tonic to settle the Scot’s nerves ahead of tougher tests to come.
In the women’s draw, Britain’s Johanna Konta fell at the first hurdle for the third year in a row after suffering an upset 1-6 7-6(2) 6-4 by unseeded Taiwanese Hsieh Su-Wei.
Spanish veteran Fernando Verdasco ousted highly-rated German youngster Alexander Zverev — seeded ninth in Paris after winning the Italian Open — in another upset when their match resumed on Tuesday after being suspended the day before.
The day’s other highlights included Argentine Juan Martin del Potro’s successful return to Paris after a five-year hiatus. Del Potro, whose career has been plagued by injury, thrashed compatriot Guido Pella 6-2, 6-1, 6-4.
Third seed Stan Wawrinka started slowly against Slovak qualifier Jozef Kovalik, but the Swiss did enough to win the rallies that mattered and ultimately emerged victorious in a shade under two hours.
Australian Nick Kyrgios kept his emotions in check to outclass Germany’s Philipp Kohlschreiber, while women’s third seed Simona Halep moved smoothly into the second round with a 6-2 6-3 win over Slovakia’s Jana Cepelova.
Halep came close to pulling out of the tournament after tearing ankle ligaments less than two weeks ago, but showed no ill effects from the injury and will face Germany’s Tatjana Maria in round two.