Argentina’s David Nalbandian was sensationally disqualified from the Queen’s Club final on Sunday for angrily kicking an advertising board at a line judge, leaving the official suffering a gashed and bloodied leg.
The fiery Nalbandian, who had won the first set 7-6 (7/3) against Croatia’s Marin Cilic, had just lost his serve to fall 4-3 down in the second set when he reacted with a frustrated kick at the board, which was just in front of line judge Andrew McDougall.
A stunned and angry McDougall then rolled up his trousers to reveal a bloody gash on his leg, before appearing to remonstrate with Nalbandian.
Photo: Reuters
Play came to a halt and after a delay of several minutes, ATP supervisor Tom Barnes came onto the court to speak to umpire Fergus Murphy and Nalbandian.
It soon emerged that the 30-year-old’s petulant behavior had been punished with disqualification “due to unsportsmanlike behavior” and Cilic was declared the champion.
Nalbandian responded by waving his arms in frustration, while the 6,000-capacity crowd jeered, but the former Wimbledon finalist later returned to the court to apologize for his actions.
Photo: Reuters
“I am sorry to do that. Sometimes we get very frustrated here on court. It is tough to control,” he said, before also launching into a rant against ATP chiefs. “It is a tough moment to end a final like that. Sometimes we feel the pressure from the ATP. It is a mistake and I have to pay for that. Everybody makes mistakes. 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.”
Barnes, who confirmed he made the decision to eject Nalbandian as soon as he saw the line judge was hurt, said the Argentine had accepted the sanction and that he would be stripped of his runners-up check of 44,945 euros (US$56,802), and 150 ATP ranking points, which he would have earned as a beaten finalist.
He could also be hit with a 10,000 euro fine, to be decided by ATP chiefs at a later date.
“He knows the rules and knew what was going to happen. He didn’t do it intentionally. He lost control and a guy got hurt,” Barnes said. “I am not surprised by what he said about the ATP.”
Nalbandian was understood to be unhappy with playing conditions at Queen’s Club, a traditional warm-up event for Wimbledon, where the schedule had been badly affected by rain all week.
“The grass had been slippery. Maybe he thought it wasn’t safe, but the courts were playable,” Barnes said.
Tournament director Chris Kermode told the BBC: “It’s one of those really unfortunate things.”
“It was an unbelievable final. Best match all week. Nalbandian ran across in frustration and kicked a panel, which went flying across and caught a line judge. He’s quite seriously injured. A violation was called immediately,” he said. “Nalbandian clearly regrets what he’s done. It’s unfortunate. These things happen. To have the match ending this way is disappointing, but we’re under the governance of ATP rules. David feels terrible. It was a pure accident.”
Cilic looked slightly bewildered as he lifted the giant silver trophy during a rather subdued post-match presentation on court.
It was the 23-year-old’s first ATP title since winning in St Petersburg, Russia, in October last year and the triumph made him the first Croatian man to win on grass since Goran Ivanisevic at Wimbledon in 2001.
However, the sixth seed admitted taking the title in such a bizarre manner was not the ideal way to conclude a successful week.
“It was very bitter. It’s definitely not the way I wanted to win,” Cilic said. “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.”
GERRY WEBER OPEN
AFP, HALLE, GERMANY
Germany’s Tommy Haas defeated second seed Roger Federer 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 to win the Halle grass-court tournament on Sunday to become the ATP’s second-oldest champion.
Playing in front of his home fans, the 34-year-old wild-card added to his triumph at the same venue three years ago to take his 13th ATP title.
Swiss great Federer, the second seed, was seeking a sixth win at the Wimbledon warm-up event having booked his seventh final ticket with a straight sets semi-final win over unseeded Russian Mikhail Youzhny.
Haas, a former world No. 2, secured his place in the climax with a defeat of compatriot Philipp Kohlschreiber.
After claiming the title, Haas said: “This has been one of the best weeks of my career, but I reckon I won’t really appreciate what’s happened until this evening.”
“If someone had said to me beforehand that I was going to beat Roger Federer, probably the best player of all time, I would have thought they were mad,” he said.
“It’s a special moment knowing that four months ago I didn’t know if I would be able to play at this level again. It’s a life lesson,” said the injury-plagued Haas, who only recently returned to the ATP Tour after a 14-month absence.
In that time, he underwent hip and right-shoulder surgery, which sent his ranking plummeting to No. 200.
He came into Halle at No. 87 in the world, with Sunday’s victory expected to move him back into the top 50.
France’s Fabrice Santoro remains the oldest champion, winning the 2008 Newport, Rhode Island, tournament when he was 35.
“This would normally be the perfect time to retire, but I am not ready. I hope to play on for a long time,” added the German, who went through qualifying at the French Open last month, before going onto to reach the third round.
He has also been awarded a wild card into Wimbledon.
Federer was magnanimous in defeat, saying: “Tommy has performed well throughout, I’m thrilled for him.”
Federer, the 16-time Grand Slam title winner, said he would head to Wimbledon “probably on Thursday.”
“It would be great to win there for a seventh time,” he said.
Sunday’s victory was Haas’ third career win over Federer, after beating his better-fancied rival at Halle in the semi-finals in 2005 and 2006, against 10 defeats, the last in the semi-finals at Wimbledon in 2009.
Federer broke to lead 3-1 in the opening set, but proceeded to lose three successive games to find himself trailing 4-3.
Haas went on to clinch the set in 50 minutes.
In the second set, Haas broke to lead 5-4 and serve for the match, winning when Federer put a return long.
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