An Italian junior has been disqualified from the Australian Open for carelessly, but not aggressively, striking a ball kid with a stray ball.

Maria Viviani, 17, was contesting the junior tournament against Chinese opponent Xin Yu Wang and lashed out after losing a point.

Without paying attention to where she was aiming, Viviani hit the unused second ball from her pocket away, which reportedly hit a ball kid in the chest.

While the court attendant was unharmed, the chair umpire took the drastic action of eliminating Viviani from the tournament.

She was trailing Xin 6-2 at the time.