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Harriet Dart, the British No 4, complained about her opponent’s smell and said she needs to “wear deodorant” in a curious incident during a heavy defeat.
Dart suffered a straight-sets exit from the Rouen Open as Lois Boisson dominated a 6-0, 6-3 encounter.
But an occasionally ill-tempered affair saw tensions inflame when the 28-year-old asked the umpire to instruct Boisson to deal with her body odour.
“Can you tell her to wear deodorant?” Dart asked, in comments picked up on the microphones placed court-side early in the second set. “Because the smell,” Dart said. “Can you tell her to wear deodorant? She smells really bad.”
Boisson took just 28 minutes to secure the first set in an impressive performance after recent injury issues.
Dart also suffered a first-round defeat at the Charleston Open at the end of March, her first clay-court event of the season.
She was part of the Great Britain squad that secured progress into the Billie Jean King Cup Finals this weekend, featuring in the doubles rubber against Germany.
Elina Svitolina is the top seed competing at the WTA event in Rouen, with Dart’s GB teammate Sonay Kartal seeded eighth after performing strongly in recent months to rise up the rankings.
English (US) ·