topbananas Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 "You cannot be serious man" http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/tennis/18479244 David Nalbandian was disqualified from the Aegon Championships final after injuring a line judge by kicking an advertising board into his shin. Nalbandian was leading Marin Cilic 7-6 (7-3) 3-4 when he smashed a board in front of Andrew McDougall's seat, causing his leg to bleed heavily. Chair umpire Fergus Murphy awarded Cilic the match, while ATP supervisor Tom Barnes confirmed the decision. ATP code of conduct Players shall not at any time physically abuse any official, opponent, spectator or other person within the precincts of the tournament siteFor purposes of this rule, physical abuse is the unauthorised touching of an official, opponent, and spectator or other person "I am very sorry, sometimes you get frustrated on court," said Nalbandian. "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." After edging the first set on a tie-break, Nalbandian's serve was broken in the opening game of the second. He managed to level at 3-3 but immediately handed the advantage back by putting a forehand wide on the stretch. The world number 39 continued his run before angrily booting the board, which broke apart and badly gashed McDougall's left leg. Tournament official Chris Kermode told BBC One: "We were in the middle of a wonderful final and David Nalbandian ran across and in frustration kicked a panel underneath the line judge. "The panel went into his leg and cut it - he's quite seriously injured. The match has ended with a code violation. "David is struggling to come to terms with it. He clearly regrets what happened - but these things happen. "Queen's is sold out and the spectators are watching some great tennis, so to have the match end this way is quite disappointing. "But there's not a lot we can do about it. We are under the governance of ATP rules. "The official has been taken up to the medical centre. I've not had a chance to see how he's doing. It was a pure accident. "You'd like to think you can bend the rules but if you allow it [the match to continue] it sets a precedent. If you start changing the rules you have to be very clear." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyville88 Posted June 17, 2012 Share Posted June 17, 2012 Very dumb to go and do that knowing that there's a person sitting right there. I feel bad for the crowd. The match was likely heading to a 3rd and deciding set and it would have made for some great tennis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Not A Fruit Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 I think he deserved to be disqualified! Nalbandian needs to control his anger in another form, and later in an interview he stated that it was an accident (obviously since he meant to kick the board) and that the anger will come out of him sometimes. This does not excuse him from injuring a poor innocent man, on purpose or not. As stated above I feel bad for the crowd, some interesting tennis would have been played, probably resulting in a 3rd set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyville88 Posted June 18, 2012 Share Posted June 18, 2012 The police have gotten involved in the investigation. Nalbandian could be in real trouble here. His apology was pretty weak. Speaks to his character I guess. LONDON (Reuters) - British police are investigating a complaint of assault after Argentine tennis player David Nalbandian injured a linesman in a petulant outburst during the final of the Queen's Club tournament at the weekend. The governing body of men's tennis (ATP) said separately that they had fined the player the maximum of 10,000 euros ($12,600). Nalbandian had already forfeited prize money (at least $56,800) and ranking points for the week. The ATP also said he could face an additional fine or ban once the governing body has finished reviewing the incident. Nalbandian was leading Sunday's match 7-6 3-3 when he dropped serve in the seventh game and reacted by kicking out at a wooden advertising board which disintegrated on impact and slammed into official Andrew McDougall's left leg. A shocked McDougall cried out and instantly clutched his shin. When he rolled up his trouser leg, blood could be seen seeping from the wound. He received some on-court attention before being escorted off the ground to the club's medical centre. After prolonged discussions between officials, umpire Fergus Murphy disqualified Nalbandian for "unsportsmanlike behavior" and awarded the match to his Croatian opponent Marin Cilic. A Scotland Yard spokesman said on Monday: "An allegation of assault has been made to us relating to an incident at the... tennis tournament and we are now investigating." Nalbandian apologized after the incident, saying: "I know (what) I did (is) a mistake, 100 percent. I feel very sorry for the guy. I didn't want to do that. But sometimes you get angry and you cannot control those moments." ($1 = 0.7949 euros) http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2012/06/18/sports/tennis/18reuters-tennis-nalbandian-police.html?_r=1&smid=tw-NYTStraightSets&seid=auto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Offensive Threat Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 His apology statement of "Sometimes you get angry and you cannot control those moments" could be said by most of the people serving time for assault. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hockeyville88 Posted June 23, 2012 Share Posted June 23, 2012 His apology statement of "Sometimes you get angry and you cannot control those moments" could be said by most of the people serving time for assault. He also said something to the extent of "we (the players) are under pressure from the ATP to be successful" basically implying that it's the ATP's fault for putting too much pressure on him to win. Can't get much more lame than that. Does he think that Novak, Rafa, and Roger don't have pressure on them?! In addition to the ATP, these guys have millions of dollars of sponsorship money invested on them. Of course they are under pressure but you don't see them coming unglued like that. There was a way that Nalbandian could have responded to his actions that would have salvaged some respect of his image but he just made it worse. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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