Jódar admits his mistake and apologises to ball kid

Jódar admitted that he had behaved wrongly towards a ball kid and apologised. “It was a mistake; I shouldn’t have treated him like that. I was frustrated,” he said.

The player said he reflected after the match and realised he should not have acted that way. He linked his behaviour to his frustration with how the match was going, while taking responsibility for it. “I’m not perfect, I’m human and I make mistakes,” he added.

The comments came after he received a warning on Wednesday in the round of 16. Jódar, who qualified for the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters 1000 on Friday, said he wanted to move on and make sure it did not happen again. “I’ll try not to do it again, because that isn’t the right way to treat ball kids, and I have a lot of respect for their work,” he said.