A French Tennis Player Lost His Credentials After Repeatedly Groping A Female Reporter

Another controversy concerning a French wild-card: yesterday, Hamou forced Maly Thomas (Eurosport) into his arms. Thomas not on site today. pic.twitter.com/248fbjgA0k

— Mike Morgendorfer (@MikeMorgendorf1) May 30, 2017

AwfulAnnouncing- One of the most blatantly inappropriate behaviors from an interviewed player in some time came at tennis’ French Open Monday, where 21-year-old French player Maxime Hamou grabbed Eurosport reporter Maly Thomas while she was trying to interview him and started kissing her head. Hamou was already out of the tournament after losing 6-3, 6-2, 6-4 in the first round to Uruguay’s Pablo Cuevas, but Tuesday saw the French tennis federation announce that his accreditation for the rest of the event was revoked following his “reprehensible behavior.” 

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I know it's exceedingly dangerous to think everyone is on the same page in regards to any potentially inappropriate act in the year 2017, but I think anyone of sound mind with even the slightest of interests in equal rights can agree that this was not okay. I don't want to paint with a too broad of a brush here, but kissing anyone anywhere without their consent is usually not going to work out in your favor. Never mind when you do so multiple times in under a minute while "working" in a professional capacity.

Maxime Hamou legit had the look of a guy that presumptuously sauntered up behind an unsuspecting freshman at a frat house, and he did so on television in broad day light. To be that tone deaf, disrespectful, and threatening almost requires an amount of intoxication that one can only find at the bottom of a bowl of grain alcohol-infused punch. I almost hope that the handsy 21 year old is a lush that tried to drown his disappointment in the liquor of his choice, because it that's how he acts while sober then he's going to a be red dot on a computer screen before he's even old enough to rent a car. As someone that didn't understand a single word that was said during that "interview" I don't want to tell the French tennis federation how to handle their business, but they probably should have scheduled their boy for about a dozen workplace harassment seminaries while revoking his accreditation for putting a reporter in an aggressive, sexually charged head lock.