French wildcard Maxime Hamou, who was recently defeated by #22 seed Pablo Cuevas of Uruguay in the first round of the French Open here in Paris, was banned from the remainder of the tournament after forcing himself on Eurosport journalist Maly Thomas today.
Thomas was interviewing 21-year-old Hamou following his loss to Cuevas, when the player grabbed her by the neck, and with his arm around her shoulder began caressing and kissing her neck as she attempted to push him away.
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Shockingly, commentators in the studio began to laugh at Thomas’ unfortunate predicament even as she attempted to prise Hamou’s arm off her shoulder in disgust.
The incident, broadcast on live television, was met with shock and disgust from viewers, with the French Tennis Federation (FTF) responding in quick fashion to the player’s reprehensible actions.
Hamou has been banned from the remainder of the French Open and loses his accreditation, meaning he will not have any access to Roland-Garros for the remainder of the tournament.
A statement released by the FTF soon after the incident read, “The management of the tournament has decided to revoke Maxime Hamou’s accreditation following his reprehensible behavior with a journalist yesterday.”
The player could face further fines and/or bans pending a further investigation.
Meanwhile Thomas, the journalist involved in the incident, said, “if it had not been on live television, I would have punched him.”
Hamou’s issued a canned apology later via French sports daily L’Equipe that said he “....offered (my) deepest apologies to … Thomas if she felt hurt or offended by my behaviour during the interview.”
He claimed the incident was a result of “...getting carried away by (my) emotions.”
Eurosport also responded on Thomas’ behalf saying in a statement they were “pleased that a full apology has been offered” and they “....regret sincerely the incident that occurred.”
