"There was no malice, no abuse, no violence" - Gael Monfils clarifies UTS disqualification over 'playful exchange' which left supervisor injured

Gael Monfils has recently clarified the events leading to his disqualification from the Ultimate Tennis Showdown (UTS) in Oslo.

The race to the UTS Grand Final began on Friday (February 9), featuring players such as Holger Rune, Andrey Rublev, Alex de Minaur, Alexander Bublik, Casper Ruud, Nicolai Budkov Kjaer, Dominic Thiem, Benoit Paire, Lucas Pouille, and Gael Monfils.

The UTS is an international individual tennis league with rules that differ from traditional lawn tennis. It features timed quarters instead of sets, and players have the option to take a coaching timeout once per set, among other rule differences.

Monfils was defeated by Alex de Minaur 15-12, 17-8, 16-9 on Friday in their first match of the tournament. After the match, it was announced that the Frenchman was disqualified from the competition. Then, on Saturday (February 10), the organizers of the UTS released a statement clarifying the events that took place resulting in his suspension.

It was stated that in a playful moment, Gael Monfils accidentally injured tournament supervisor Stephane Apostolou in the locker room. Despite no ill intentions, Monfils was disqualified by UTS, and both parties accepted the decision amicably and parted ways on friendly terms.

“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. 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,” UTS said

Monfils also clarified the incident on Saturday via a post on his X account. He referred to the UTS statement and wrote on his X (formerly Twitter) account:

“I want to tell everyone what happened at UTS in Oslo. As per the release from UTS directly, there was no malice or negativity on my part. No abuse, no violence. However, whilst joking around in the locker room, Stephane was unfortunately hurt. It was never my intention to hurt or cause harm and thankfully Stephane knows that. People who know me, know this is not in my nature. Stephane and I have shook hands and move on. The disqualification makes this look like there was an issue or altercation backstage but really there wasn’t, this was an accident and nothing more. Peace and love,” Monfils said

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Major highlights from Gael Monfils' 2024 season so far

Gael Monfils (Getty Images)

Gael Monfils kicked off his 2024 campaign at the ASB Classic in Auckland but faced an early exit at the hands of Fábián Marozsán, as the Hungarian beat him in the first round in three sets.

The Frenchman then competed at the Australian Open and defeated Yannick Hanfmann in the first round but was knocked out by Argentina's Tomás Martín Etcheverry in the second round, who won 6-4, 6-4, 6-4. His best record at the Australian Open includes quarter-final finishes in 2016 and 2022.

Monfils then moved on to compete at the Open Sud de France. Monfils has a strong record at the event in Montpellier, having won the trophy in 2010, 2014, and 2020. This time, however, he was knocked out by eventual quarter-finalist Flavio Cobolli in the first round.