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An unranked Iranian tennis player has been provisionally suspended from the tour after an astonishing outburst on the court during an ITF Futures event in Turkey on Sunday.
Majid Abedini, aged 29, was caught on camera angrily chasing a supervisor off the court during his first-round qualifying match against British player Imran Aswat in Antalya.
Abedini is seen hitting a ball into the net and then running after the supervisor who makes a quick exit from the court.
Abedini furiously hits his racket against the gate to the court and also lashes out with a kick as the supervisor stands on the other side.
His actions saw him defaulted from the match, in which he had failed to win a game at 6-0, 2-0 down to 20-year-old world No 1525 Aswat.
The ITF announced on Wednesday that Abedini had been provisionally suspended, with an investigation to take place into the incident.
The statement read: ‘The ITF announced that a Notice of Investigation has been issued to Iranian tennis player Majid Abedini following an incident at the ITF Pro Circuit event in Antalya, Turkey on Sunday 17 April.
‘Mr. Abedini has been provisionally suspended in accordance with the ITF Welfare Policy and is further subject to an investigation into a possible Player Major Offence of Aggravated Behaviour.
‘Following this investigation, any additional sanction will be announced.’
One British player, who wished to remain anonymous, told the Telegraph: ‘Imran was winning pretty comfortably, and the guy started coming out with things like “I f***** your mum” and screaming obscenities.
‘The court supervisor came on to give him a warning for his language.
‘The first time, the Iranian guy started screaming “No, no, get off, not you,” so I don’t know if it was the same referee he had already had one row with.
‘Then there were a few more loud expletives, the court supervisor comes on again, and the guy flips.
‘He’s got a ball in his pocket, he tries to hit it straight at the referee, but fortunately he’s not very accurate.
‘Then he chases the referee off court and he’s trying to slam the fence down.
‘Three referees had to come on to finally get him off the court.’
Abedini has failed in all his 66 attempts to qualify for a third-tier Futures event since 2010, winning only two matches.
