And all for unsportsmanlike conduct…
This week marked the start of Wimbledon 2017, with the two-week tournament already being one of the most memorable yet.
With pregnant defending champion Serena Williams sitting the tournament out this year, the Ladies title is up for grabs (Will it be Johanna Konta or Venus Williams?), much like with the Men’s title, it’s anyone’s game.
The tournament made particular headlines yesterday after several players were fined for unsportsmanlike conduct, with the championships reportedly seeing some of the worst behaviour in years.
The British tournament, priding itself on politeness and sportsmanship, is known to impose fines in cases of unsportsmanlike behaviour, docking money from the players’ prize money from each match.
This year has already seen some huge fines, and while it’s good that so much money is going to a good cause, with all fines donated to the Grand Slam Development Fund, people have been shocked by the amount of misconduct in the 2017 tournament.
Australian tennis player Bernard Tomic was charged with unsportsmanlike conduct this week, after he admitted to faking an injury during his first round match with Mischa Zverev.
In a press conference after the match, the 24-year-old admitted faking the injury, explaining ‘I felt a little bit bored out there.’
As a result, the tennis player was fined the second highest penalty in Wimbledon’s history, a whopping £11,500, not to mention he was dropped by his racquet sponsor, Head.
While this would have been news enough, another tennis player has come under fire for unsportsmanlike conduct, with Russian player Daniil Medvedev receiving three individual fines during his match on Wednesday.
He was originally fined £3,100 for insulting the umpire, Mariana Alvez, and then had a further £2,300 docked for doing it again. He was finally fined an additional £5,800 for throwing coins at her seat in anger.
With all of this drama happening in just a few days, we’re not sure what to expect for the remainder of the two-week championship.
