Tennis ace Elliot Benchetrit has been criticised by fans after he was filmed asking a ballgirl to peel the banana she was passing to him:



During a break in his Australia Open qualifier against Dmitry Popko, Benchetrit - who stands at number 229 in the world - was handed a piece of fruit but he quickly responded, telling the youngster: "I can't do it."

The ballgirl turned to umpire John Blom who was sat to the side of the camera - and out of view - for guidance before turning back to the 21-year-old player and giving him the energy-boosting snack once again.

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Taking to Twitter, one person said: "She's not a servant. She's there to do a job. He looked shocked when he was told to do it himself. Whattttt, peel it myself?!"

Someone claiming to be the camera operator wrote: "He was rude to the ball kids multiple times during the match."

Credit: Twitter

According to CNN the umpire was unimpressed with the demand (which Benchetrit put down to having plasters on his fingers) and told him to do it himself.

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Benchetrit, who is from France, took hold of the banana before attempting to open it with his teeth before giving up and returning to the match.

Benchetrit tried to open the piece of fruit with his teeth. Credit: YouTube/Tennisportalen TV

Many people jumped to the tennis players' defence, with one writing: "His hands were completely blistered and bandaged up. I would have peeled it for him as the polite thing to do."

Another said: "What is rude & nasty are ur words. The man's fingers were hurt and bandaged. Stop making a storm in a teacup, by reading too much into nothing. Not all have dirty minds."

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Benchetrit wasn't put off by the lack of banana - or his plaster-ridden fingers - because he ended up beating his component 4-6 6-2 6-3.



He will now go on to play against Yuichi Sugita in the first round of the tournament on Tuesday.

In 2018, Fernando Verdasco was criticised for the way he treated a young ballboy.

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