Tennis Ball Boy Squashes Invasive Bug Rescued by Player in Viral Match Moment

Kristen Wong | Jul 24, 2025

A ball boy ruthlessly squashes what appears to be a spotted lanterfly, an invasive insect species on the East Coast, after Greek tennis player Maria Sakkari saved the bug during her match in the Washington Open. / Screengrab on Twitter/ @TennisChannel

Greece's Maria Sakkari was just trying to do a nice thing for a bug during her stunning upset against American Emma Navarro in this year's Citi Open in Washington D.C.

As it so happened, her compassionate gesture hilariously backfired.

At one point during Wednesday's match, Sakkari picked up a bug on her side of the court and walked over toward the barriers to set it free, moving it away from immediate danger. The match's commentators applauded her kindhearted move: "Good work there from Sakkari, taking care of the local wildlife. Very delicately done."

But, mere seconds later, a ball boy came over and squashed the bug with his shoe. The bug appeared to be a spotted lanternfly, which is an invasive insect species on the East Coast.

Sakkari could only watch and laugh as her well-intentioned attempt to save a bug's life ended in an arguably quicker death for the helpless insect.

Maria Sakkari saves bug…

bug gets SQUASHED 😭🪦 pic.twitter.com/EEMv1DgpVs

— Tennis Channel (@TennisChannel) July 23, 2025

Some things in life are just inevitable.

Sakkari went on to stun Navarro in straight sets (7-5, 7-6)—her first top-20 win on a hard court since last March—and booked a spot in the quarterfinal on Friday. Hopefully, she won't run into any awkward bug-related incidents in that match.

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