13-year-old junior tennis player gives chair umpire the middle finger; gets immediately disqualified from Les Petits As tournament

In a surprising turn of events at the renowned Les Petits As - Le Mondial Lacoste tennis tournament, Swedish teen player William Repakis was disqualified for unsportsmanlike conduct.

During his match against Rafael Thao Keuang, the 13-year-old Repakis expressed his frustration in an unsportsmanlike manner by gesturing with his middle finger towards the chair umpire. The Swedish teen lost his cool right after the umpire took a controversial call on a ball that Repakis believed was incorrectly judged.

The Les Petits As tournament, now in its 42nd edition, has been instrumental in launching legends of the sport such as Rafael Nadal and Martina Hingis. Tennis greats like Roger Federer, Alexander Zverev, and Novak Djokovic all cut their teeth at this prestigious junior tennis event before they hit the big leagues.

This year's edition, however, has been marked by the incident involving Repakis. The incident was shared on X (formerly Twitter) by user 'Tick Tock Tennis':

"Meanwhile, at the Petit A's, 13yo William Repakis of Sweden gets immediately disqualified for flipping off the chair umpire."

Repakis’ behavior resulted in an instant disqualification from the tournament, as reported by various sources.

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Les Petit As tennis champions through the years

Rafael Nadal in action at the 2024 Brisbane International

Les Petits As is an annual tennis tournament for players aged 12–14, held every January in Tarbes, France. It involves 350 up-and-coming juniors from over 40 countries.

Rafael Nadal won the Les Petits title in 2000 at age 14. Martina Hingis was the champion in 1992 and 1993. The tournament also saw Andy Murray as a finalist in 2001 and Novak Djokovic as a quarterfinalist in 2002.

In 1994, Juan Carlos Ferrero, who would later ascend to the top of the tennis rankings, achieved a remarkable feat at the tournament by clinching victory despite not having a professional ranking at the time.

Fast forward to 2017, the tournament saw Carlos Alcaraz, just 13 at the time, teaming up with Holger Rune in doubles to flaunt their budding skills on the Les Petits stage.

Other notable champions include Michael Chang (1986), Kim Clijsters (1997), Juan Carlos Ferrero (1994), and Timea Bacsinszky (2002, 2003).

The 2023 edition of the tournament saw Mark Ceban of Great Britain clinch the title in the boys' singles division while Russia's Anna Pushkareva secured victory in the girls' singles division.