Lois Boisson has responded with a light-hearted social media post after Harriet Dart complained that she “smells really bad” during their match at the Rouen Open on Tuesday. The British number four was beaten 6-0 6-3 by France’s Boisson and comments she made to the umpire during changeover in the second set were picked up by TV cameras.
Dart can be heard telling the umpire: “Can you tell her to wear deodorant?” She then repeated the question, adding: “Because the smell. Can you tell her to wear deodorant? She smells really bad.”
Boisson was out of earshot when Dart spoke to the umpire, but she has now responded on Instagram by making light of the incident. The 21-year-old shared an edited photo of her holding some Dove deodorant and tagged the company, joking: “Dove, apparently need a collab”.
And Dart has since apologised for her comments, claiming they were made in the “heat-of-the-moment” and that she “truly regrets” them. “Hey everyone, I want to apologise for what I said on court today,” she wrote in a post on her Instagram story.
“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.”
Boisson was a wild card entry into the tournament, which marked her first WTA Tour appearance of the season after struggling with injury problems.
She has one WTA 125 singles title to her name, having beaten compatriot Chloe Paquet to win the L’Open 35 de Saint Malo in May last year.
Dart, meanwhile, was playing just her second singles match on clay this season after crashing out of the Charleston Open last month in a first round loss to Varvara Gracheva.
The 28-year-old did enjoy an impressive 2024 that saw her reach her first WTA singles semi-final at the Transylvania Open, represent Great Britain at the Billie Jean King Cup and earn a career high ranking of 70.
However, Dart had set herself a target of reaching the top 50 before the end of the year. “This year’s been really challenging. As much as my ranking’s gone up, I’ve been ill a lot or something’s been happening,” she admitted.
“Madrid was the first time I actually didn’t have anything going on, which was really nice, and the tennis got pieced together. For me, it’s just about staying healthy for the rest of the season.
“I have goals to be top 50 by the end of the year. I just need to keep working on my game and the results will take care of themselves. I just need to keep believing in the process.”
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