US Open controversy as French star falls victim to wild fake email prank after 'fecal matter' accusation
Jules Marie shared the ordeal on social media
INSTAGRAM
French tennis player Jules Marie has been on the receiving end of a vicious prank at the US Open while waiting for an alternate spot in the qualifying draw.
Marie was the No 2 alternate for the US Open qualifying draw, meaning just a few withdrawals would see him called up.
The 32-year-old has never played in the qualifying draw at the US Open in his career, but he was made to believe that was set to change following a supposed withdrawal from Henrique Rocha.
Marie revealed that he was told of Rocha's supposed withdrawal via an email that soon unravelled to be a cruel hoax.
Jules Marie shared the ordeal on social media
He shared the entire ordeal on his Instagram story with screenshots of the emails he was sent.
Marie also shared that he was on the receiving end of a similar hoax at Wimbledon, and that appears to have been the spark behind the latest prank.
A Twitter account with the handle @arrhurmayot57 - which has now been deleted - took responsibility for both pranks on Marie.
The unnamed prankster claimed that his latest stunt at the US Open was 'revenge' for the abuse he received for his hoax at Wimbledon.
The tweet read: "During the last Wimbledon, I played a prank on Jules.
"@RomainNextGen unleashed his community against me, I received death threats and letters with fecal matter in them.
"So I took revenge on Jules Marie (the two are friends)."
The French tennis star pleaded for anyone who knows the perpetrator to come forward.
That apparently led to some information as Marie felt the need to rule out one person and went on to threaten legal action.
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Jules Marie thought he had been given an alternate spot in the qualifying draw
GETTY
He added: "FYI it's not Arthur Mayot, Harold's brother.
"It's a fake nickname and fake account. I have all the info on the guy. I will call tomorrow with a lawyer to file a complaint.
"I hope he sees this story. I'm not really going to stop there for nothing because I'm behind the line and I'm not giving up anything.
"It led to a further back-and-forth between them both on social media with the prankster continuing to blame the X account @RomainNextGen.
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Jules Marie has never played in the qualifying draw at the US Open
GETTY
Marie finished with a message of thanks for the support he had received from his followers throughout the painful ordeal.
"Thank you for all your messages of support," he said.
"Obviously boring to live this kind of story, crazy emotional elevator, it's a big bang in the heart knowing that I fight all year for this goal.
"I'm obviously not going to let it go."