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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.
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“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.
The teenager had come into the tournament this week as the No. 1 seed.