Just a day after Maria Sakkari’s good-hearted bug rescue hilariously backfired during her upset over Emma Navarro at the Citi Open, when a ball boy immediately squashed the very insect she tried to save, history humorously echoed itself. Sakkari’s gentle act, praised by commentators as “Good work there from Sakkari, taking care of the local wildlife. Very delicately done,” ended with laughter as the spotted lanternfly met a quicker fate. Today, in strikingly similar chaos, another uninvited bug moment unfolded when Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe battled fiercely for a semifinal spot, proving even high-stakes tennis isn’t safe from nature’s unexpected intrusions.
During the intense Citi Open clash between Ben Shelton and Frances Tiafoe, an unexpected intruder stole a moment of the spotlight, a bug that wandered too close to the net. Without hesitation, a ball boy slid in, stomping on the insect three swift times beside the net before dashing to the opposite side.
Both players stood on their respective baselines, watching the scene unfold as Shelton broke into laughter, sharing the humor with the amused crowd. The popular Instagram page “Cracked Racquets | All Things Tennis” captured the entire sequence, posting the clip with a wry caption: “Bad day to be a bug in Washington,” as the fallen insect lay lifeless on the court.
(The story is emerging…)
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