Gael Monfils was disqualified from a UTS exhibition event after a minor injury was suffered to a supervisor in what was a ‘playful exchange.’
The Frenchman participated in an UTS exhibition event in Oslo, Norway as he took on Alex De Minaur on Friday.
However what was supposed to be a fairly light-hearted match turned into something more than that when Monfils wasn’t happy that he was unable to use one of his bonus cards during the match.
This saw Monfils visibly annoyed and it was later revealed that the Frenchman was disqualified as he was replaced in the event by Lucas Pouille.
There was not much information at the time as to why Monfils was disqualified but it’s now been revealed that in a ‘playful exchange’ Monfils caused a minor injury to a supervisor.
In a statement tournament organizers explained what specifically lead to Monfils’ disqualification, “Yesterday a playful exchange in the locker room between Gael Monfils and the tournament supervisor Stephane Apostolou resulted in a minor injury to the supervisor,” the statement read.
“UTS is 100% satisfied that there was no malice intended from Gael but because there was an injury sustained by an official, however minor, we felt there was no alternative but to disqualify Gael.
“Gael accepted the disqualification and he and the supervisor parted on friendly terms. See you next time Gael.”
Monfils will look to brush off this controversial incident as he heads to Rotterdam to play the ATP 500 event.
The two-time former winner will begin his campaign in the Netherlands against a qualifier with a potential meeting against Australian Open champion Jannik Sinner in the second round.
