WIMBLEDON: 23-time grand slam champion Serena Williams has been issued with a substantial fine at the Wimbledon Championships.
The 37-year-old has been docked $10,000 due to her actions that took place in a practice session prior to the start of the tournament. Williams has been punished for damaging one of the practice courts with her racket. Something that didn’t come to light until more than a week after the incident allegedly took place.
Williams’ fine is three-times more than what Fabio Fognini was issued with. During his third round match against Tennys Sandgren, the Italian was heard saying that he wished a bomb would be dropped onto the tennis venue. Fognini was unhappy that he was made to play on Court 14.
‘It’s fair to play here? Damn English, really. Damned, really.” He moaned in Italian.
“Wish a bomb would explode on this club. ‘A bomb should explode here.’
Following the outburst, Fognini apologized and was fined $3000 for his comments. Although some are questioning the big gap between his and Williams’ fine. Fognini is currently under a two-year suspended sentence linked to his behavior at the 2017 US Open. At that tournament, he called the umpire a ‘whore’ and a ‘cocksucker.’ He was slammed with a $96,000 penalty for ‘extremely derogatory and misogynistic language.’
Another player to be hit with a double fine is Australia’s Nick Kyrgios for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 24-year-old was fined $4310 from his first round match against Jordan Thompson and $7190 from his second round clash with Rafael Nadal. Bringing the total amount to $11500.
Bernard Tomic still leads the contest when it comes to penalties at The All England Club this year. He was docked all of his first round prize money ($56,349) for failing to give his best effort during his first round match. However, Tomic is set to launch an appeal against the decision and said he was ‘unwell at the time.’ Players such as Novak Djokovic and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga has also questioned the decision to take away all of his prize money.
“Bernard definitely has a history of playing matches with less effort, let’s call it that way,” said Djokovic. “But when you tell me now the score and what has happened, and I followed it a little bit the last few days, I don’t think it’s fair to take all his prize money away.”
There has been no comment from Williams concerning her fine. She will take to the court on Tuesday to play Alison Riske in the quarter-finals of Wimbledon. She is required to reach the final of the tournament in order to maintain her place inside the world’s top 10.
