Parent Mihai Barbat physically attacked Elise Tamaela of the Netherlands at a $25,000 challenger in Versmold, Germany, as she cheered on her compatriot Danielle Harmsen, the foe of Barbat's daughter, Karen Barbat, various reports allege. German player Scarlett Werner, Tamaela’s doubles partner, reported it on Facebook. The 27-year-old Dutch player Tamaela is said to be in the hospital. Tamaela's brother is said to have wrote on Tennis Forum:
“As the brother of Elise I can confirm the story... Elise has been attacked by the father of Karen Barbat while watching her game. He was calling her names from the start of the game (all kind of racist things I'm not willing to repeat). After a while Elise said something about it, he then knocked her out with a punch and elbows to her temple. She immediately lost consciousness for about five minutes... After a while she was taken to the police station to press charges, the father and daughter flee, police still looking for them. At the police station Elise started the vomit continuously, an ambulance was called to take here to the nearest hospital. She's still on a intravenous drip with painkillers and needs to stay in the hospital till at least tomorrow morning (having a concussion and a bruised face)."