TENNIS star Maria Sakkari gently removed a bug from the court during her match last night… only for a ball boy to then stomp on it.
The former world No3 was taking on second seed Emma Navarro in Washington DC.
During the match, Sakkari paused when she noticed a bug chilling on the court.
The 30-year-old stooped to pick it up before carefully taking it seemingly out of harm’s way.
Fans clapped Sakkari’s kind act, with the commentator saying: “Good work there from Sakkari, taking care of the local wildlife.”
The initially heartwarming scene then took a brutal turn, when a ball boy killed the bug by stomping on it.
Members of the crowd gasped and laughed in equal measure at the bizarre incident.
While even Sakkari couldn’t help but giggle as she prepared to return serve.
The commentator added: “Oh! Dear me. The ball kid didn’t get the memo.”
Unaffected by the incident, Sakkari went on to beat Navarro 7-5 7-6 in one of her best wins of the year.
The Greek will be back in action later today when she takes on Britain’s Emma Raducanu in the quarter-finals.
Raducanu possesses a 3-0 record over Sakkari, having beaten her in the semi-finals on the way to winning the US Open in 2021.
The pair also met at Wimbledon last year, with the Brit favourite triumphing 6-2 6-3.
Raducanu booked her spot in the last eight with a brilliant 6-4 6-2 win over four-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka.
After the match, the 22-year-old said: “I’m really pleased with that match.
“I thought that it was pretty mature, and I was holding onto my own service games really well. I knew going into the match that Naomi has been playing good, loves the hard court.
“So I was going to have to play well and manage my own service games, because she’s very dangerous, hits a big ball, and serves extremely well. Very pleased with how I managed all the situations there.
“Naomi is pure speed, which is very difficult to deal with, especially on these courts, where it’s very lively. It was extremely important to start the point well on my serve.”
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