Aussie Tennis Player Marc Polman Channels Peak John McEnroe, Clobbers Umpire In The Face With Ball After Missing Shot

Tennis, like any sport, has a lot of rules. But even if you're not a walking, talking tennis rule book, you'd assume that ripping a shot out of frustration straight into the umpire's face is frowned upon. Australian tennis player Marc Polmans learned firsthand that this is, in fact, the case.

Polmans had a qualifying match against Italy's Stefano Napolitano in Shanghai. Late in the match, Polman missed a deciding shot and was immediately possessed by a McEnroe-ian burst of rage.

Polman wound up and took a hard swing at the ball. He connected with it and sent the fuzzy green ball careening straight into the mug of Scottish umpire Ben Anderson.

Man. He got all of that one. According to reports, the umpire was sitting a mere 4 meters away. That's just over 13 feet away for those of us who think the metric system just makes too much sense.

Polmans Was Shown The Door Immediately

Obviously, Anderson wasn't particularly enthused about taking a Wilson to the chops like that. Polmans could have said "Damn, my bad, bro" until he was blue in the face and it still wouldn't be enough to keep from getting DQd on the spot.

That was a costly decision on for the Aussie, who is currently the 140th-ranked player in the world. That early ticket out of China means he'll be headed home without any prize money.

According to Daily Mail, even if Polmon's rage shot hadn't hit Anderson in the mug, he still would've run afoul of the ATP rules.

"Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball while on the grounds of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up)," the rules state.

Well, it sounds like he was doomed from the wind-up then.

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