Tennis star Elliot Benchetrit branded 'nasty piece of work' for asking ball-girl to peel his banana

Tennis star Elliot Benchetrit has attracted criticism for asking a ball-girl to peel his banana.

Footage of the incident has circulated online since the incident on Saturday.

During a break in his Australian Open qualifier against Dmitry Popko, the world No229 was handed the piece of fruit.

Benchetrit quickly responded: "I can't do it."

The ball-girl turned to umpire John Blom - who is off screen - for guidance before turning back and handing the banana back to the 21-year-old.

The back-and-forth between player and umpire continued with Benchetrit visibly annoyed by the incident.

"She's not a servant," one person wrote on Twitter. "She's there to do a job. He looked shocked when he was told to do it himself. Whattttt, peel it myself?!"

Another added: "What a nasty piece of work, this player is beyond rude."

The following day, Benchetrit appeared to see the funny side of the incident, responding to a banana emoji post on his Instagram with laughter.

Benchetrit is back in action on Tuesday in the Australian Open.