British star Harriet Dart speaks out after coming under-fire for moaning rival 'smells'

Harriet Dart has apologised for complaints that her tennis opponent "smelled" during Tuesday's Open de Rouen action. Dart had raised eyebrows during the clash when she suggested the umpire should ask Lois Boisson of France to "wear deoldrant" midway through the round-of-32 match.

The British tennis star, who is ranked 110th in the world rankings, has been widlely criticised for the stunt, leading to her issuing an apology to Boisson.

Taking to Instagram to say sorry, Dart wrote: "Hey everyone, I want to apologise for what I said on 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. Harriet."

The altercation occurred during a break in the second set, with Dart approaching the umpire to say: "Can you tell her to wear deodorant?" The umpire, visibly bemused, sat watching on as Dart repeated the question, before returning to her baseline to serve.

It came during a miserable performance on the court from Dart, who was dumped out of the tournament in France by virtue of a straight sets defeat. Boisson, who is ranked 197 places below Dart in the rankings, took the first set without dropping a point in less than half an hour before finishing the job off with a 50-minute 6-3 win.

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