Tennis Player Lobs Ball Toward Crying Baby

When a baby started crying during a tennis match at the Sony Ericsson Open, Spain's David Ferrer lobbed a tennis ball in the direction of the infant. INSIDE EDITION has the shocking story.  

Tennis has always been considered a gentleman's game. But brace yourself for a real cheap shot.

Spain's David Ferrer is the number six ranked player in the world. He was playing a match in Key Biscayne, Florida when suddenly a baby in the stands started crying.

Ferrer was already losing, which might explain the shocking thing that happened next: He hit a ball toward the crying baby!

The game announcer said, "He whacks that ball way up in the seats. That'll get some whistles, and perhaps a warning."

Another announcer said, "He was hitting it toward the baby. You can't do that. That's why you get the boos!"

The baby's disbelieving dad clutched the child protectively.

On Good Morning America, Robin Roberts was clearly stunned by Ferrer's foul ball.

"He actually decided to lob a ball at the baby! I'm not kidding you," said Roberts.

Sports psychologist Tom Ferrero told INSIDE EDITION, "He's going to be deeply regretting this incident for the rest of his career. He'll be labeled as a hot-head. It wasn't like a vicious, crazy thing, but people will see it as that."

And tennis fans quickly tweeted their disapproval.

"Silly David Ferrer. U can't be hitting tennis balls at crying babies. Shame," said one tweet.

But on INSIDE EDITION's Facebook page, some took a different viewpoint. One Facebook fan said, "You can't take kids everywhere. Keep your babies at home with a sitter."

The baby was not hit and Ferrer lost the match. And he certainly didn't make any new fans after the dumb move.