Harriet Dart apologizes after requesting opponent wears deodorant: ‘She smells really bad’

British tennis player Harriet Dart has apologized after asking the umpire to tell her opponent Lois Boisson to wear deodorant after claiming “she smells really bad.”

Dart, 28, fell to a 6-0, 6-3 defeat to wild card Boisson in the last 32 of the Rouen Open on Tuesday, with courtside microphones picking up her complaint over her opponent’s personal hygiene during a changeover in the second set.

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“Can you tell her to wear deodorant,” Dart, the British No. 4, was heard to ask the umpire, who did not audibly respond. “Because the smell,” Dart added. “Can you tell her to wear deodorant? She smells really bad.”

French player Boisson was seemingly out of earshot at the back of the court at the time of the comments.

WTA No. 110 Dart later apologised via a story on her Instagram account: “I want to apologise for what I said on the court today, 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. I have a lot of respect for Lois and how she competed today. I’ll learn from this and move forward.”

The WTA has been approached for comment.

Boisson posted an Instagram story of her own to joke about the incident, posting an edited photo of herself holding a deodorant can during a serve and tagging the brand Dove with the comment “apparently need a collab.”

Boisson, 21, was making her first WTA Tour performance of the season having struggled with injuries, and is working her way back up from 303 in the rankings.

(Top photo of Harriet Dart: Nathan Stirk / Getty Images for LTA)

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