Lois Boisson responded with a joke after being told to wear deodorant by Harriet Dart. The two players went head-to-head in the first round of the Rouen Open on Tuesday, with the French star comprehensively dispatching the Briton 6-0, 6-3.

Boisson took just 28 minutes to bagel her opponent in the first set, despite the fact she was making her first WTA Tour appearance of the season following an injury setback. Dart had clearly grown frustrated by the time the second set had come around as she struggled to match Boisson’s endeavours. And during one changeover she told the umpire: “Can you ask her to put on deodorant? She smells really bad.”

Dart came under fire for her gratuitous comments and later apologised for her outburst.

And Boisson offered a light-hearted take on the situation as she mocked up a picture of herself holding some Dove deodorant and posted the image to her Instagram page alongside the caption: “@Dove apparently need a collab.”

Boisson, who entered the event as a wildcard, will face the winner of the match between Moyuka Uchijima and Kamilla Rakhimova in the next round. The 21-year-old is yet to win a WTA Tour title in her career but did win a Challenger event just under a year ago.

Dart was clearly remorseful for her remark in the cold light of day. And she apologised for her behaviour on Instagram as she wrote: “I want to apologise for what I said on court today, it was a heat-of-the-moment comment that I truly regret.

“That's not how I want to carry myself, and I take full responsibility. I have a lot of respect for Lois and how she competed today. I'll learn from this and move forward.”

The 28-year-old will now turn her attention to her next clay-court tournament ahead of the French Open, which gets underway at the end of May.

The Rouen Open began on Monday, with the final scheduled to take place on Sunday.

But fans would have been disappointed to see the withdrawal of former Grand Slam star Alize Cornet, who was forced to pull out after injuring her bicep in a Billie Jean King Cup showdown.

Cornet announced her decision to play at the tournament after retiring from tennis last year. But at the start of the week she explained: “I was looking forward to returning to Rouen to celebrate my return to the main circuit.

“But my body didn't handle the sequence of these first two weeks of comeback well. I hope to be back as soon as possible to continue enjoying myself.”