Benchetrit, who exited the main draw of the Australian Open on Tuesday when losing in straight sets to Yuichi Sugita, was involved in the contentious moment during his qualifying match against Emil Ruusuvuori.

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Benchetrit ate one banana during a change of ends, before gesturing to a ball girl that he wanted another, asking her to open it for him.

Umpire scolds Benchetrit for asking ball girl to peel banana

She proceeded to do so, before umpire John Blom told Benchetrit that he should do it himself, prompting a lengthy exchange between official and player.

The incident went viral on social media, leading the legendary Martina Navratilova to tweet that Benchetrit was “entitled”.

Benchetrit’s behaviour was also labelled “pretty rank” as it made headlines across the world.

But the player later had an explanation for the unusual request, telling reporters:

"I had put some powder on my hands to stop sweating. The bananas are very hard to peel here because they don't have a stem. I asked the ball kid nicely because she had already peeled one for me at the beginning of the match.

"The umpire intervened and told me: 'She's not your slave, you cannot ask her that'. He said 'Slave'!"

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