PARIS: British tennis player Harriet Dart has apologized after asking the chair umpire to tell her opponent to put on deodorant because she "smells really bad."
Dart lost 6-0, 6-3 to French player Lois Boisson in the first round of the clay-court Rouen Open on Tuesday, and was picked up by a microphone during a changeover telling the umpire: "Can you tell her (Boisson) to wear deodorant? ... Because she smells really bad."
After the footage spread on social media, Dart posted an apology on Instagram and said "it was a heat-of-the-moment comment that I truly regret."
"That's not how I want to carry myself, and I take full responsibility," she wrote. "I have a lot of respect for Lois and how she competed today. I'll learn from this and move forward."
Boisson, who made her first WTA Tour appearance of the season and is working her way back up from 303rd in the rankings after injuries, gave a light-hearted response. She posted a photo on Instagram of her on court with a Dove deodorant edited into the frame above her hand, tagging the company and writing that they "apparently need a collab."