French tennis pro gets flak for asking ball girl to peel banana

Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2020 05:27:25 +0000

ELLIOT Benchetrit

MELBOURNE, Australia (AFP) – Elliot Benchetrit said he’s stunned by the “out of control” backlash after he asked a ball kid to peel his banana at the Australian Open, hitting out at the umpire who told him to do it himself.

The French player, dubbed ‘Bananaman’ by Australian media, handed a banana to a ball girl during a qualifying match, saying he was struggling to get the skin off as he had cream on his hands.

But umpire John Blom wasn’t impressed and told him to peel his own banana, allegedly berating him for treating the girl like his “slave”.

The incident sparked uproar on social media with tennis great Martina Navratilova weighing in on Twitter, saying “What’s next- grapes? #entitlement. John did the right thing, that’s for sure.”

Benchetrit, known as ‘Bench’, gave his side of the story after being knocked out in the first round, claiming
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