Maxime Hamou decided to show he has a long way to go to show he is capable of living in a civilized society after the French tennis player was banned for forcibly trying to kiss a female reporter during a live TV interview.
Maly Thomas was doing an interview with Hamou for the show Avantage Leconte on Monday, when Hamou, not once, not twice, but three times, tried to kiss the Eurosport journalist, with Thomas visibly uncomfortable as the series of unfortunate events unfolded.
What was even more sad to see were the peals of laughter and clapping in the studio as they watched Hamou try to take advantage of Thomas.
"It was frankly unpleasant," Thomas told Huffington Post France. "If I hadn't been live on air, I would have punched him."
After the incident, the management at the French Open decided to ban the player from Roland Garros. Hamou lost his first round match at the French Open, after coming through qualifying following a wildcard from the authorities.
"The management of the tournament has decided to revoke Maxime Hamou's accreditation following his reprehensible behaviour with a journalist," Roland Garros authorities said in a statement.
While some of the presenters and commentators in the studio might have found Hamou's behaviour funny, Eurosport put out a statement condemning the world number 287's actions.
"We sincerely regret the incident that occurred during yesterday (Monday) evening's interview between Maly Thomas and Maxime Hamou," the statement read. "The behaviour of the interviewee was highly inappropriate and we do not condone such conduct in any way.
"Maly is a highly respected journalist and we are pleased that a full apology is being offered."
The cricketer Chris Gayle was rightly banned from the Big Bash League the season before last for flirting with a reporter, also during a live interview, and this is much, much worse than that.
Hamou, of course, also gave a grovelling apology, although he could not quite give a reason for his appalling behaviour.
"I want to offer my deepest apologies to Maly Thomas if she felt hurt or shocked by my attitude during her interview," Hamou, who lost to Pablo Cuevas in straight sets in the first round, told L'Equipe. "I just lived a wonderful week here in Roland Garros living my most beautiful emotions as a tennis player, and I let my overflow of enthusiasm express myself awkwardly towards Maly, who I know and sincerely respect.
"Nothing of all that is written was my intention. I am at her disposal to apologise to her in person if she so wishes. I learn every day from my mistakes to become a better tennis player and a better person."
