The tennis star made the comment at the Open de Rouen.

Harriet Dart courted controversy with her comments. (Image: Getty)

Harriet Dart has apologised after complaining her opponent “smelled” during Tuesday’s Open de Rouen action. The Brit raised eyebrows when she asked the umpire to tell Lois Boisson of France to “wear deodorant” midway through the first-round match.

The British tennis star, who is ranked 110th in the world rankings, has been widely criticised for her comments, leading to her issuing an apology to Boisson.

Taking to Instagram to say sorry, Dart wrote: “Hey everyone, I want to apologise for what I said on court today, 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. Harriet.”

The altercation occurred during a break in the second set, with Dart approaching the umpire to say: “Can you tell her to wear deodorant?” The umpire, visibly bemused, sat watching on as Dart repeated the question, before returning to her baseline to serve.

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Harriet Dart made the comment at the Open de Rouen in France (Image: WTA/X)

Dart has been blasted by tennis fans on social media, with @SeivwrightTrudy writing on X: “This two second insult will comeback to bite Harriet. Why would the umpire be responsible for a player’s body odour?”

@StaceyS47363102 added: “I’m so disappointed in Harriet. Terrible comment to make. I truly thought better of her. Wow.”

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@TennisCouchTalk was also scathing, writing: “Jokes aside, this is absolutely unacceptable professional behaviour! You’re playing tennis and not walking into a fashion show.”

@LuffyGeass joked: “Must be the scent of the bagel she cooked,” a reference to the set Boisson won to love.

There has been some speculation that Dart could be punished by the WTA Tour or LTA for her outburst. Express Sport has contacted both for comment.

It came during a miserable performance on the court from Dart, who was dumped out of the tournament in France by virtue of a straight sets defeat. Boisson, who is ranked 193 places below Dart in the rankings, took the first set without dropping a game in less than half an hour before finishing the job off with a 50-minute 6-3 win.

Dart has now lost each of her last four matches in WTA tournaments – a run which stretches back to mid-March. Losses in her opening matches at the Charleston Open and Puerto Vallarta Open were met with a second-round exit in qualification for the Miami Open last month.