Francesca Schiavone had a tough day on Monday. She drew Serena Williams in the opening round of the US Open, and the match went as many anticipated it would. Williams defeated Schiavone 6-0, 6-1. Realizing that she was totally out of it at one point, Schiavone decided she needed a hug.
The 33-year-old Italian startled a young ball boy, who was nice enough to give her a pat on the back once he realized she was just going in for a hug and wasn’t going to take her frustrations out on him.
“I don’t need a hug in that moment. I needed a game, points,” Schiavone joked after the match. “I went to the ballboy to say, ‘Well, that’s tough.’ It was just a joke.”
At least she had a sense of humor about the whole thing.
