Serena Williams Fined $10K for Damaging Wimbledon Court
Officials at the All-England Club take their Wimbledon tennis courts very seriously. And why shouldn’t they? The courts are grass, an increasingly rare surface these days, and they are the venue for the most prestigious event in the sport.
So when tennis star Serena Williams threw her racket during a practice round before the tournament event started, she crossed a line.
Williams damaged the grass courts with her racket toss, and for that she was fined $10,000 for “unsportsmanlike conduct” by the All-England Club, The Times of London reported Tuesday.
Serena Williams hit with $10K fine for damaging a practice court on the weekend before Wimbledon after throwing her racket.
— Mike Dickson (@Mike_Dickson_DM) July 8, 2019
It was one of the outside courts, not the famed Centre Court, where the finals are played.
Williams came into Wimbledon as the No. 11 seed, having played in only six tournaments this year.
She has won 23 grand slam titles, one shy of the all-time record held by Margaret Court. A win at Wimbledon, which would be her eighth, would tie her with Court.
Williams, 37, beat fellow American Alison Riske on Tuesday 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to advance to the semifinals. The road for her is about as clear as it can be as all of the top six seeds have been eliminated.
Former French Open winner Simona Halep also advanced to the semis Tuesday.
Williams’ fine was the third handed out at Wimbledon this year.
Italian Fabio Fognini was hit with a $3,000 fine for saying in Italian, “I wish a bomb would explode on this club,” the BBC reported. He lost that match to Tennys Sandgren.
Fabio Fognini has apologised after being heard to say: “I wish a bomb would explode on this club” during his defeat at #Wimbledon.
Full story: https://t.co/aUjufo9b69 pic.twitter.com/armzk4vk5X
— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) July 6, 2019
Also, Australian Bernard Tomic was fined about $56,100 for basically giving up in his match against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, The Telegraph reported.
In a truly BIZARRE encounter, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga obliterates a care free, effortless Bernard Tomic 6-2, 6-1, 6-4 in under an hour. Tomic’s body language attracted bronx cheers throughout the match and boos when he lost. #Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/E4SfsahzNR
— Jedd Zetzer (@JeddZetzer) July 2, 2019
Tomic was beaten in a mere 58 minutes by the score of 6-2, 6-1, 6-4. It was the shortest match at Wimbledon since 2004.
He was fined for not meeting the “required professional standard.”
Tomic said he will appeal the fine and explained that he was “unwell” during the match, Reuters reported.
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