With the US Open not very far away, players are giving it their all to tune up for the last major tournament of the season. Among them is Coco Gauff, who is currently in Montreal to play in the Canadian Open. The American sensation bowed out of the singles competition after losing to Victoria Mboko in straight sets. However, Gauff has also participated in the doubles competition and is still going strong there. One particular moment during the semifinal yesterday particularly caught the eyes of the tennis world.

Gauff is partnering with her compatriot, McCartney Kessler, in the doubles competition in Montreal. The two had a thrilling win yesterday against the duo of Olga Danilovic and Hsieh Su-wei in the last four clash. Despite their win, there was an unfortunate incident involving Gauff’s partner that almost led to her disqualification.

The incident took place in the second set, when Coco Gauff and McCartney Kessler were up 3-1 after losing the first set 7-5. During the fifth game of the second set, a long rally ensued, and the ball went wide toward Kessler. The American sensation tried to keep the rally alive but lost the race against the ball, eventually hitting the ball after it was dead.

However, Kessler’s return hit straight at the chair umpire’s head, leaving her shaken. Subsequently, both Gauff and Kessler rushed toward the chair umpire to check her well-being. The umpire took a major blow but did not show any signs of discomfort, and the play was carried on.

Although both Gauff and Kessler looked visibly concerned by the incident, it had no bearing on the result of the match. They went on to win the second set 6-4 and subsequently won the match tiebreaker 10-6. While it was an accidental hit from Kessler, she wasn’t really to be blamed, as she tried to return the ball during an intriguing rally. But had there been more damage to the chair umpire, Kessler’s disqualification was already on cards.

Remember the 2020 US Open, when Novak Djokovic was defaulted from the match after he accidentally struck a line judge? Well, per the ATP rule book, no player is allowed to hit the ball with anger during a match. ATP calls it an abuse of balls. Even during the 2025 Roland Garros, Lorenzo Musetti was almost disqualified. During one of his matches, the World No. 7 struck a ball out of frustration and accidentally hit a line judge. Thankfully, the line judge did not get hurt, and Musetti escaped a default.

“Players shall not violently, dangerously or with anger hit, kick or throw a tennis ball while on the grounds of the tournament site except in the reasonable pursuit of a point during a match (including warm-up). For purposes of this rule, abuse of balls is defined as intentionally or recklessly hitting a ball out of the enclosure of the court, hitting a ball dangerously or recklessly within the court, or hitting a ball with disregard of the consequences,” the rule book mentions.

While Gauff and her doubles partner, Kessler, are safe for now, do you think the ATP should have taken any action against the duo?