David Nalbandian was disqualified from the Queen's Club final after kicking a line judge's leg, handing the title to Marin Cilic.
Nalbandian won the first set of the AEGON Championships final against Cilic on a tie-break, but reacted angrily after being broken for the second time in the second set.
Having just lost the seventh game, Nalbandian fiercely kicked an advertising board in front of line judge Andrew McDougall's chair.
The board smacked into the line judge's shin and a caused an inch-long bloody gash.
Referee Fergus Murphy then awarded Cilic the match, and the championship, disqualifying Nalbandian for "unsportsmanlike behaviour."
The crowd booed and chanted "play on", but the decision was final and Cilic was handed the crown.
Nalbandian was apologetic for his actions, but came out fighting against the ATP as he addressed the crowd after the match.
"I am very sorry. "Sometimes you get very frustrated on court," Nalbandian told the Queen's crowd afterwards:
"Sometimes I make a mistake I agree with. It's a tough moment to end a final
like that but sometimes we feel so much pressure from the ATP playing so many tournaments.
"Today I've made a mistake. Sometimes I agree and I do but everyone makes
mistakes. I don't feel it had to end like that - especially in a final.
"There are a lot of rules and sometimes they don't do anything. The rule book
is very big and I can tell you the ATP do a lot to the players and nothing happens."
Cilic said: "It was very bitter. It's definitely not the way I wanted to win.
"To end like this is not easy. The match was getting hot and it's tough to see the final finish like this.
"I can't change it, but I'm really sorry for the fans that it finished like this."
No comments:
Post a Comment