WTA drama heats up in Rouen after controversial 'deodorant' feud as Harriet Dart's opponent claps back despite her apology

French tennis player Lois Boisson responded with humor and flair to a bizarre moment that overshadowed her first-round victory over Britain's Harriet Dart at the 2025 Open de Rouen. In her 6-0, 6-3 defeat, Dart made a mid-match comment alleging the Frenchwoman smelled "really bad." The remark caused instant controversy on social media. However, Boisson defused the awkward moment as a playful moment by joking about the situation.

The controversial moment came on April 15 during a changeover in the WTA 250 tournament when Dart, clearly upset by the lopsided scoreline, approached the chair umpire with an eyebrow-raising request.

"Can you tell her to put on deodorant or something? She smells really bad," she said, in full earshot of the on-court mics.

The remark was immediately caught up by the broadcast feed, which resulted in a swift backlash. Harriet Dart faced the brunt of criticism after the match — not only for her uneven performance but also for what everyone believed was unsportsmanlike conduct. Having realized the intensity of her words, 28-year-old Brit took to Instagram Stories later in the day to offer an apology.

"Hey everyone, I want to apologise for what I said on court today, it was a heat-of-the-moment comment that I truly regret. That’s not how I want to carry myself, and I take full responsibility. I have a lot of respect for Lois and how she competed today. I’ll learn from this and move forward," Dart wrote.

Screengrab of Harriet Dart's Instagram stories (@harriet_dart)

Lois Boisson, though, wasn't fazed at all. The 21-year-old Parisian managed the situation with the kind of maturity beyond her years. Rather than fueling the drama, Boisson defused it with humor. She shared a photo of herself on her Instagram Stories holding a photoshopped Dove deodorant stick, cheekily tagging the brand and writing:

"@dove apparently need a collab" Boisson's response to Dart's comments.

Screengrab of Lois Boisson's Instagram stories (@loisboisson)

Boisson's victory guaranteed her qualification to the Round of 16, where she will encounter either Kamilla Rakhimova or Moyuka Uchijima on Wednesday, April 16. The winner of that match is most likely to clash with either third seed Olga Danilovic or Linda Fruhvirtova.

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Harriet Dart spoke out against online abuse following Italian Open qualifying loss

In Picture: Harriet Dart during the Billie Jean King Cup Play-Off (Source: Getty)

Harriet Dart was subjected to online harassment following her 6-1, 2-6, 2-6 defeat to Priscilla Hon in the first round of the 2023 Italian Open qualifiers in Rome. She replied on Instagram Stories, posting a screenshot of the messages and explaining she had not had much time to prepare for the tournament.

"Some lovely messages & they keep going. Thank you, my first practice on clay was my warm up before my match and I arrived at 1am into Rome. Would have been easy to pull out but I did try," Dart wrote on her Instagram story.

Harriet Dart currently has a singles ranking of World No. 110 and is ranked 62nd in doubles on the WTA Tour.