French tennis star Arthur Fils showed his class and compassion by taking care of a ball girl, who was in tears after being struck in the face.
Fils’ opponent, Taylor Fritz, served the ball and it went out before ricocheting wildly off the back of the court during their Paris Masters clash and then striking the ball girl in the face.
It was an unpleasant moment and brought the youngster to tears but Fils, 22, immediately recognised she was hurt.
He strolled over and interrupted his rhythm to console the shaken ball girl and escorted her off court to receive medical attention.
The home crowd loved the gesture from their chivalrous countryman and offered warm applause for his act of generosity.
Fritz also looked concerned about the accidental incident and approached the net to check on the girl.
Arthur Fils showed his concern for the tearful ball girl who had been accidentally struck
Ball boys and girls are often in the firing line of rapid serves and occasionally find themselves on the receiving end of an impact.
At the 2020 Australian Open, Rafael Nadal smashed a forehand into the ball girl standing by the umpire’s chair by mistake.
The Spaniard gave her an apologetic hug and later handed her his headband from the match as a further gesture of contrition.
Fritz went on to beat Fils 6-3, 6-4 in a comfortable win and did not have to face a single break point in the entire match.
He went through and set up a clash against Carlos Alcaraz, where bizarrely there was another incident with a ball girl. This time the injury came from a fall while running back to the corner.
Photographers and other staff came to help her up and both players also checked on her. ‘I think the ball girl twisted her ankle or something,’ commentator Daniela Hantuchova said.
‘Obviously just twisted her ankle. Bless her. Just going to be a little bit of a delay while she gets the treatment that she needs. I think she’s alright.’
She was then replaced by another ball girl while receiving treatment and whisked away off court. Alcaraz came out on top in three sets to progress to the semi-finals.
