Nalbandian’s 10,000 euro fine for linesman ‘assault’

The Argentinian star’s moment of rage has proved costly, for both his reputation and his wallet.

The fine, equivalent to £6,400, comes on top of the £36,500 prize money withdrawn by bosses at the Aegon Championships, held at Queen’s Club in west London.

Earlier, police announced they are looking into a complaint of assault after linesman Andrew McDougall’s leg was left bleeding.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We are aware of an incident at the Aegon Championships on 17 June.

“A complaint has been made and the Metropolitan Police Service is now investigating. The allegation is of assault.”

‘Emotions crossed the line’

Nalbandian won the first set in Sunday’s final but lost his temper in the second after his serve was broken by Croatian opponent Marin Cilic.

After missing a forehand, he kicked the board in front of the chair of Mr McDougall. The hoarding flew off its hinges and struck the linesman in the shin.

Nalbandian was disqualified and the trophy handed to Cilic.

“I believe that it was a correct call to default Nalbandian because although it didn’t seem that he wanted to injure the linesman, his emotions really crossed the line,” Nima Naderi from the Tennis Connected blog told Channel 4 News.

“It’s very unusual for the police to be involved in an on court tennis manner, one which involves a player and a linesperson. I don’t believe the police need to intervene here.”

Too many rules?

In his post-match interview with the BBC’s Sue Barker, Nalbandian hit out at the “many rules” enforced by the ATP (Association of Tennis Professionals).

He said: “Yes, it was a mistake. But look at all the rules the players have to sign up to. Too many rules.”

Some might question the timing of his attack on the rulebook.

Nima Naderi said: “I think Nalbandian was referring to the top players getting off with behaviour that was questionable but not the lower ranked players. Would Nadal or Federer have been disqualified if they did the same thing?

“I don’t believe Nalbandian should be banned from Wimbledon. He already had his prize money and ranking points taken away from Queen’s Club. At this stage of his career, that’s punishment enough.”

‘Mistakes happen’

Despite the incident, Nalbandian hopes to return to the Wimbledon warm-up event next year.

“This incident doesn’t mean that I’m not going to come back,” Nalbandian said.

“It doesn’t matter. I really feel good at this tournament. The tournament director is great to me and I like it.

I don’t believe the police need to intervene here. Nima Naderi

“This is a bad situation for everybody and I really apologise for that but it doesn’t mean anything to next year.”

Tournament director Chris Kermode stopped short of saying the 10th seed would definitely be allowed back, but conceded banning the player would be highly unlikely.

“Look, mistakes happen,” he said. “I haven’t really thought about next year, but you can ask me again in a couple of weeks.”