Jasmine Paolini opened her Miami Open campaign with authority, outlasting Taylor Townsend in three sets before teaming with Sara Errani to beat Shuko Aoyama and Ulrikke Eikeri 6-3, 6-2. Yet the win took a bizarre twist. A stray shot from her own side struck Paolini, turning a routine finish into an awkward moment.

At match point, 5-2 (40-30), Sara Errani stepped up to serve. Ulrikke Eikeri returned the ball, but it landed out. The point looked finished. In the follow-up, Errani struck the ball again. The shot went off target and hit Jasmine Paolini on the head. The impact stunned her momentarily.

Paolini immediately sat down on the court. She held the back of her head with both hands. The moment briefly raised concern. However, the tension quickly eased. Errani rushed over to check on her partner. Both players soon broke into smiles.

The crowd also reacted with laughter. The situation turned light-hearted within seconds. The players then moved to the net for the handshake. However, this was not an isolated incident in tennis doubles. Similar moments have occurred before. One notable case came at the Australian Open last year.

Gaby Dabrowski accidentally hit her partner, Erin Routliffe, with a misfired serve. They were facing Danielle Collins and Desirae Krawczyk. Routliffe looked hurt at first but quickly laughed it off.

Another incident happened at the US Open in 2023. Victoria Azarenka accidentally hit her partner, Beatriz Haddad Maia, during a dominant win over Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi.

As the ball dropped, Azarenka mistimed her shot. It struck her teammate instead of crossing the net. Commentators reacted instantly, saying, “Vika, what are you doing? She’s your teammate!”

Such moments show the unpredictable nature of doubles tennis. Even top players are not immune to mishaps. As Errani and Paolini move into the next round in Miami, this incident adds to a long list of similar episodes in tennis. 

Jelena Ostapenko hits her mixed doubles partner twice at Wimbledon

Back in 2019, Jelena Ostapenko had a bizarre moment at the Wimbledon Championships. She was playing mixed doubles with Robert Lindstedt. They faced Makoto Ninomiya and Andrés Molteni.

At the start of the first set, Ostapenko hit a serve. The ball went straight into Lindstedt’s head. Both players laughed it off as a fluke. However, the same thing happened again later. In the round of 16, they played John Peers and Zhang Shuai. Ostapenko again struck her partner accidentally.

A similar incident took place in 2023. Coco Gauff was playing doubles at the Canadian Open. Her partner was Jessica Pegula.

During a first-set tiebreak against Miyu Kato and Aldila Sutjiadi, Gauff misfired a serve. The ball hit Pegula on the backside. The crowd reacted with surprise and laughter.

Pegula handled it with calm. She turned and shared a look with Gauff. Gauff quickly apologized during the match. Later, Gauff addressed it on social media. She wrote, “oops sorry @JPegula.” Pegula replied with humor, saying, “we’re a little rusty I guess.”

Another strange moment happened in 2014. Taylor Townsend accidentally hit her teammate Liezel Huber. The match involved the Philadelphia Freedoms and the Washington Kastles.

Huber had to leave after being hit on the head. With her exit, Martina Hingis and Anastasia Rodionova gained control. The Kastles won the set 5-1, shifting the match completely.

Now, after the incident involving the Italian pair, fans will be hoping the Italian comes through unscathed in her Round of 32 clash against Jelena Ostapenko today.