Tennis

The junior tennis player who slapped his opponent in the face following a match earlier this week has issued an apology ... saying his actions were "wrong and completely out of line."

Just three days after 15-year-old Michael Kouame smacked 16-year-old Raphael Nii Ankrah following a loss at an ITF juniors tournament in Ghana ... he said he was very sorry.

Kouame -- who posted the mea culpa on his social media page -- said he acted out and slapped Ankrah after hearing heckling from the crowd during the match.

"I was repeatedly verbally abused by a large number of individuals in the crowd, including insults to my mother in particular," Kouame said. "However, that does not excuse my behavior."

Kouame directly apologized to Ankrah ... and said he'd take any punishment that officials inevitably hand down.

"[I] will use this time to reflect on how I can better manage challenging situations like these in the future in a manner that accurately reflects my character," Kouame said.

A French tennis player did his best Will Smith impression after a match on Monday -- as in, he slapped the hell out of his opponent's face in a fit of rage.

Just seconds after 15-year-old Michael Kouame lost a tilt to 16-year-old Raphael Nii Ankrah at an ITF juniors tournament in Ghana ... he reached back and smacked his opponent in the jaw.

Video shows Ankrah had no idea the attack was coming -- in fact, the footage reveals that just moments before the slap, he had actually shaken hands with Kouame.

No word on why Kouame launched the open hand, but further video from the scene shows it ignited a near brawl on the court afterward.

Kouame was the tournament's No. 1 seed heading into the match -- which happened in the first round of the event.

Mason Rudolph out ... Matt Harvey in???

TMZ Sports has learned the MLB pitcher chatted up Genie Bouchard at a music festival in Miami just weeks after the tennis star broke up with her longtime BF -- and it's got us all wondering, are the two now igniting a new romance?

We obtained a picture and video of Bouchard with the baseball player at Ultra on Saturday night ... and while we're told there was no kissing, touching or feeling going on -- it seems apparent Harvey was interested in getting her ear.

You'll recall, Harvey has been linked to Bouchard in the past -- back in 2014 while Harvey was starring for the Mets, he reportedly tried to grab tickets to one of Bouchard's U.S. Open matches and potentially meet her afterward.

No word on if the two were ever able to connect back in the day ... but the duo certainly seems to have met now.

Of course, 28-year-old Bouchard is just recently single -- she and Rudolph's split is very fresh -- so it's unclear if she's looking to jump back in the dating pool again.

As for 33-year-old Harvey, he's single ... and has been known to date some very pretty people in the past.

This year's Oscars got off to a great start -- with Beyonce leading the charge with a musical number that wasn't even in the building ... and a little help from her kid.

Venus and Serena Williams were the first faces we saw Sunday as the telecast got underway from within the Dolby Theater in DTLA, with the two super star athletes immediately tossing things to Bey ... who did a live performance of her song 'Be Alive,' and doing so from a tennis court in Compton.

This is where Serena and Venus got their start when they first learning the sport, which they alluded to in their comments. And to mark the special occasion, the entire court was draped in lime green covers ... as was Beyonce and the rest of her dance troupe.

The catchy tune is featured in the Oscar-nominated film 'King Richard,' which tells the story of Serena and Venus' father, Richard Williams ... who was portrayed by a stellar Will Smith. Of course, 'Be Alive' itself is up for Best Original Song ... which explains Bey's appearance.

She wasn't the only one from the Carter-Knowles family that was on the court though -- young Blue Ivy herself was also on hand. Indeed, that was her dancing down in front with the sunglasses on ... seems they were trying to keep her presence low-key.

She was spotted nonetheless, and based on how well she was moving ... BI might just have a future job as a dancer. Lucky for her, mom and dad are always in need -- so she'll probably always have a slot booked.

Naomi Osaka is taking further steps to try to improve her mental health following her breakdown at Indian Wells ... announcing Wednesday she's now seeing a therapist.

Osaka shared the news with reporters after her match in the first round of the Miami Open ... when asked how she's mentally preparing to compete following her emotional meltdown on the court in California two weeks ago.

"I don't know if I'm allowed to say this," Osaka said, "but I finally started talking to a therapist after Indian Wells."

The tennis star said her therapy -- while recent and fresh -- is already paying off ... explaining she's receiving strategies for how to cope with events that bother her.

Osaka said she finally decided to go to a therapist because her sister was concerned for her after she began crying on the court earlier this month following a heckler's "you suck" comment.

Ben Stiller got dragged into a beef between tennis star Nick Kyrgios and a heckler at a famous tournament on Thursday -- and the scene was hilarious.

Here's the deal -- at one point during Kyrgios' match against Rafael Nadal at Indian Wells in California ... the Australian hit a serve that caused a fan to talk some trash.

Kyrgios fired back right away -- asking him straight-up, "Are you good at tennis!?"

When the fan responded, "No," Nick went off.

"Exactly!" he said. "So why are you speaking?!?"

Then, he brought Stiller -- who was sitting courtside with his wife, Christine -- into the equation.

"Do I tell him how to act!?!" he asked as he pointed his racket at the "Meet the Parents" actor. "No!"

Kyrgios went back to action on the court -- but broadcast cameras caught Stiller grinning over it all.

Kyrgios went on to lose to Nadal -- and then he continued his eventful day, by nearly nailing a ball boy with his racket in frustration.

Check out the clip -- Kyrgios shook hands with Nadal after the match, and then as he started to walk away, he wound up and threw his racket across the court -- nearly hitting the ball boy who was standing along the wall.

Fortunately for the guy, he wasn't hurt, but it was a close call and even drew gasps from the fans left in the stands.

Kyrgios, however, did make amends for his mistake ... and apologized for almost striking the guy.

"Hey bro! Sorry about my racket incident at the end! Complete accident, you all ok from it?" Kyrgios wrote in an apology he posted on Twitter.

Nick then offered to give the guy a tennis racket over it all ... saying he'd track him down if need be at the courts, so he could personally deliver him the gift.

"Sound all G?" Kyrgios asked the guy, to which he replied, "Perfect. Thank you so much!"

Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen Nick have a temper tantrum almost result in someone getting hurt.

Tennis star Genie Bouchard and NFL quarterback Mason Rudolph are done ... TMZ Sports has learned the couple has broken up after nearly two years of dating.

Bouchard and Rudolph initially hooked up in 2020 -- and in the ensuing months, the two became inseparable.

Genie attended a bunch of Rudolph's Steelers games -- and even took time out of her Mexico vacation in November to make sure she caught his start against the Detroit Lions.

Rudolph, meanwhile, posted her on his social media page often ... and the two weren't shy about using heart emojis and the "L" word.

But, we've learned the couple has just recently split ... with one source telling us it was an "amicable" end.

The source added the two are remaining friends in the breakup.

Naomi Osaka lost her tennis match Saturday, but that wasn't the worst part of her day ... a heckler set off a chain of events that reduced the tennis star to tears.

Naomi was playing Veronika Kudermetova at the Indian Wells Tourney outside Palm Springs, when a woman in the stands screamed, "Naomi, you suck!" The fans started screaming at the woman, and rocked Naomi.

She was losing 3-0 in the first set when she begged the ump to let her take the mic and talk to the audience, promising, "I just want to say something. I'm not going to curse. I don't curse. It's just weighing on my heart."

Officials would not oblige, but vowed to boot the heckler if she dared tried it again.

It was too late for Naomi ... she lost the first set 6-0 and the second 6-4.

After losing, Naomi asked again, and this time she got the mic, telling the crowd, "To be honest, I've been heckled before. It didn't really bother me. But heckled here, like, I've watched a video of Venus and Serena get heckled here, and if you've never watched it, you should watch it. I don't know why, but it went into my head and got replayed a lot."

Ukrainian tennis star Sergiy Stakhovsky is back in Ukraine, voluntarily returning to defend his homeland against Russia -- and his second mission is making his wife understand why he's chosen to do the first.

Sergiy was in Kyiv Thursday when he joined us on "TMZ Live" ... and explained the extremely difficult decision he's made to leave his wife and 3 young kids -- ages 3, 6 and 7 -- in Hungary while he takes up arms in Ukraine.

As you can imagine, telling his wife he was leaving safety to go to the middle of his war-torn country was not easy ... and you can hear the agony in Sergiy's voice.

Sergiy says his wife was mad when he told her he was going back to Ukraine ... but he understood there would be no way she could understand.

He says things were initially extremely icy between them, but they are communicating again, and now he's just hoping he'll be able to ask for her forgiveness one day ... in person.

You wanna talk about being torn in separate directions -- Sergiy tells us he's not sure he made the right choice in joining Ukraine's reserve army, but at the same time he says staying home with his family in Hungary wouldn't be the right choice either.

This is just a few powerful moments of our conversation with him -- but Sergiy also told us how he and other Ukrainians are feeling about the possibility of a ceasefire, and about Vladimir Putin.

Huge victory for Novak Djokovic -- the Serbian tennis star is now expected to play in the French Open after French officials announced they will lift the country's vaccine passport mandate this month.

France had initially barred the unvaccinated from participating in events like the major tennis tournament ... citing health and safety reasons.

Of course, that rule was slated to preclude Djokovic from playing in May's tournament ... because, well, the guy is famously not vaccinated and said earlier this year he would absolutely miss any event that had a mandate in place.

But, officials announced Thursday the order is coming to an end on March 14 ... and with the tourney set to begin on May 22, Djokovic is now slated to, once again, be a participant.

It's a big deal for Djokovic ... because after he was barred from the Australian Open in January, Rafael Nadal ended up winning the tournament and overtaking Djokovic for most career majors with 21 total.

It's still unclear if 34-year-old Novak will be able to play in any other majors following the French Open -- mandates are still in place all over the globe.

Serena Williams gave a touching tribute to her late friend, Virgil Abloh, after suiting up as a model in the Off-White fashion show at Paris Fashion Week ... saying, "I am so grateful to show love to my friend."

The fashion show marked the first of its kind since Abloh passed away in November ... and featured some of the biggest names and icons in the fashion industry.

Serena -- an icon in her own right -- was overjoyed at the experience, writing how incredible it was for her to participate in the largescale event.

"I had an unbelievable time walking in the @off____white show," Williams wrote on social media. "Virgil meant so much to me, and to walk in a collection that he was still apart of was something I could not miss."

"Thank you for the opportunity."

Supermodels Cindy Crawford and Kaia Gerber were among some of the other notable names to attend ... with musicians Rihanna and A$AP Rocky showing up as well.

As we previously reported, Virgil tragically died after privately battling cancer for several years. His death was felt throughout the fashion, sports, and entertainment industries.

The former artistic director for Louis Vuitton was synonymous with Off-White -- a brand he helped elevate to one of the fashion industry's powerhouse brands today.

Naomi Osaka is the latest superstar to enter the world of Fortnite -- the tennis sensation is joining the game's Icon Series with her own custom outfits!!

The popular game made the big announcement this week ... saying the 24-year-old will have two unique looks available for purchase starting Thursday.

One of the outfits is a super badass tennis player -- the Naomi Osaka Outfit -- which fittingly comes with a tennis racket pickaxe.

The other 'fit is the Dark Priestess Naomi ... which also has a racket-esque feature to it, but is a much more fantasy look than sporty.

Osaka joins massive names like Neymar, LeBron James and Travis Scott ... who have all collabed with the battle royale game in the past.

Of course, Osaka is a diehard gamer ... so the new partnership is a no-brainer.

Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev had a simple, yet powerful message as his country and Ukraine collide on the world stage ... writing "no war please" on a camera following his match in Dubai.

Andrey -- the world's No.7 ranked tennis player -- knocked off his opponent, Hubert Hurkacz, on Friday ... and then made his mark for all to see.

Rublev spoke more in-depth about the conflict after the match ... saying, "You realize how important it is to have peace in the world and to respect each other no matter what, to be united."

"We should take care of our earth and of each other. This is the most important thing."

Rublev -- who's from Russia's capital city, Moscow -- says he's been receiving negative comments online because of the invasion in Ukraine.

Fellow tennis great Daniil Medvedev -- who's also from Russia -- spoke about the importance of using his platform to promote peace.

"By being a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world," Medvedev said. "It's just not easy to hear all this news. I'm all for peace."

But, despite the major accomplishment, Rublev expressed certain issues transcend the realm of sports -- and the situation in Ukraine is one of them.

"In these moments, you realize that my match is not important," Andrey said. "It's not about my match, how it affects me. What's happening is much more terrible."

Naomi Osaka might be young, but she's making big girl purchases -- she just bought a new home in the L.A. area for $6.3 mil.

The 24-year-old phenom grabbed a whole lotta house for her money -- the spread has 5 bedrooms, 5 bathrooms, a gourmet kitchen, game room and a media room.

Of course, the 6,855 sq. ft. home has some pretty cool features fit for a tennis superstar ... including, a fitness room, pool, and a basketball court that can be converted into a full-size tennis court.

Naomi bought the home from Nick Lachey from the boy band 98 Degrees. He and his wife, actress Vanessa Lachey, bought the San Fernando Valley mansion in 2020 for $5.1 mil.

Here's a fun fact ... Naomi's on a Nick streak, of sorts. Her last real estate score came in 2019, when she bought Nick Jonas' home in Beverly Hills for $6.9 million.

Looks like those tennis games and endorsements are really paying off big time.

Tennis star Alexander Zverev was disqualified from the Mexican Open this week ... after he repeatedly attacked an umpire's chair during a wild meltdown.

It all started after the third set of Zverev and Marcelo Melo's doubles match against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara on Tuesday.

Zverev got frustrated after his opponents -- who had been leading in the final set -- logged an ace for match point ... which he felt shouldn't have counted.

That's when AZ totally lost it -- screaming expletives in frustration, storming over to the umpire's chair and smashing it with his tennis racket.

In the video, you can see one of Alexander's strikes almost catches the official in the foot. Fortunately, he wasn't hit as a result of the temper tantrum.

The incident came with a price ... as the ATP Tour announced Zverev will not be allowed to compete in the remainder of the tournament.

"Due to unsportsmanlike conduct at the conclusion of his doubles match on Tuesday night, Alexander Zverev has been withdrawn from the tournament in Acapulco," the tour said in a statement on its official Twitter account.

Silver lining?? Zverev gave his destroyed racket to a fan in the crowd. Souvenir!!

It's possible the ATP tour could discipline Alex further ... and a suspension could be on the table for the world's #3 tennis player.

After his COVID vaccine stance cost him a shot at his 21st major title in Australia, Novak Djokovic says he still won't get the shots ... saying he'll now opt out of tournaments with vax mandates going forward.

The tennis star broke it all down for BBC in an interview published Tuesday ... explaining that even after all the drama he went through at the Australian Open last month, he's still not going to get the vaccine.

In fact, he told the outlet if Wimbledon or the French Open or any other huge tourney implements similar vax rules ... he'll just now sit those out, saying he feels that strongly about the vaccine.

"Yes," he said, "that is the price that I'm willing to pay."

Djokovic explained he's not an anti-vaxxer -- saying, "I was never against vaccination, but I've always supported the freedom to choose what you put in your body."

Djokovic essentially said he's not willing to get the COVID vaccine just yet because he just doesn't know what it might do to his body.

"Principles of decision making on my body are more important than any title or anything else," he said. "I'm trying to be in tune with my body as much as I possibly can."

The comments are the first ones that Djokovic has made since he was famously kicked out of Australia due to his unvaxxed status.

Djokovic told the outlet he didn't fabricate anything when it came to his application for his visa ... and he added that he "completely" disagreed with the government's officials' decision to deport him from the country.

There had been some buzz that Djokovic could, potentially, get the vaccine following it all ... and while Novak didn't slam the door on one day getting it, he made it clear it ain't happening anytime soon.