Nalbandian's Punishment

David Nalbandian lost his temper after dropping serve in the second set of the Queens final yesterday. He kicked an advertising board and it broke causing an injury to a linesperson. Nalbandian of course apologised and no one is claiming he intended to hurt anyone.

As punishment he was immediately de-faulted from the tournament. He wil recieve no prize money or ranking ponts (250 ranking points and 78,935 euros if he had won). He may also be fined an additional 10,000 euros and I have also heard he may recieve an 8 week ban.

The crowd at Queens were deprived of a final they had payed to watch. Viewers at home were deprived of watching this match too.

His opponant Marin Cilic collected 250 ranking points and 78,935 euros that he may not otherwise have won.

Of course we can't have blood on a tennis court and officials must be seen to be doing the correct thing. No one of course wants to condone such behaviour but it was an accident that someone got hurt. The incident reminded me of Djokovic smashing a bench at last weeks FO final. This time despite splinters of wood flying off no one got hit by one. Instead many commentators commended Djokovic for doing the right thing, releasing some tension and saying that it could enable him to improve his play. The bench was quietly replaced during a rain break and nothing more was said... Two very different reactions to two very similar events.

Similar events?

How close was Djokovics chair to people? 10ft perhaps?

I'll be frank. personal attack on another poster removed. Comparing 2 incidents that yielded completely different outcomes is stupid. Djokovic was given a warning for that conduct.

Instead of trying to be conniving in your little petty digs at players, why not post something that offers some balance eh

legendkillarV2

If this subject upsets you why comment? Is it to make yet another childish insult? Are you trying to impose some sort of subject censorship by insulting other 606V2 members who want to discuss things that you don't want discussed? If you have something relevant to add for example the proximity of people of course do so.

The comparison between the Nalbandian incident and the Djokovic incident is being discussed widely on other tennis forums. I was also interested in hindsight with the reaction of the commentators to the Djokovic incident. It was viewed as being a positive thing for Djokovic to do. Something that could be helpful for him. If Nalbandian had done the same thing but no one was injured would it have been described in the same positive way?

Hawky,

What happens on other forums is irrelevent to this site. Doesn't mean that what is discussed there is what should be discussed here. Another thread was started up to discuss this topic and you made the same comparison on that thread and it fell on deaf ears so youpersonal attack on another poster removeddecided to start a separate thread.

personal attack on another poster removed actually answer the questions posters pose.

Do you believe within the laws of physics that a splinter could travel over 10ft unassisted by wind or breeze would cause injury like we saw Nalbandian cause?

Remember the incident at Wimbledon in 1995 when Tim Henman playing in a doubles match hit a ball and it accidentally hit a ball girl in the ear. Well not only was Henman defaulted from that match, but he also humiliatingly had to do a photoshoot with that girl the next day in which he presented that girl with a set of flowers and giving her a kiss on her cheek. Maybe Nalbanian should be given the same punishment and told to do this same thing as what Henman did back in 1995.

gboycottnut wrote:Remember the incident at Wimbledon in 1995 when Tim Henman playing in a doubles match hit a ball and it accidentally hit a ball girl in the ear. Well not only was Henman defaulted from that match, but he also humiliatingly had to do a photoshoot with that girl the next day in which he presented that girl with a set of flowers and giving her a kiss on her cheek. Maybe Nalbanian should be given the same punishment and told to do this same thing as what Henman did back in 1995.

Hmmm I can't see Nalbandian kissing that line judge on the cheek but you never know.

CaledonianCraig wrote:

gboycottnut wrote:Remember the incident at Wimbledon in 1995 when Tim Henman playing in a doubles match hit a ball and it accidentally hit a ball girl in the ear. Well not only was Henman defaulted from that match, but he also humiliatingly had to do a photoshoot with that girl the next day in which he presented that girl with a set of flowers and giving her a kiss on her cheek. Maybe Nalbanian should be given the same punishment and told to do this same thing as what Henman did back in 1995.

Hmmm I can't see Nalbandian kissing that line judge on the cheek but you never know.

Well the ATP or Tennis authorities could make him to do this Henman style photoshoot as ultimate punishment!

Donut Dave was way out of line, far beyond anything I've seen before.

The Djokovic thing doesn't compare, and neither even does Henmans thing.

Well according to the forum torpedo it does

Did they once (a long time ago) deduct points for raquet abuse..
Does my memory serve me correctly when naming one of the big offenders as Greg Rusedski.

Whilst I think that Nalbandian was totally out of order albeit I think it was never his intention to hurt anyone and was done in the same fit of peak as smashing a racquet... it seems to me that the repercussions were far greater than the crime.. equipment broken, official injured, true.but then loss of prize money, loss of ranking points and above all ticket holders got a really raw deal.
Would it not have been a good idea to penalise Nalby, public apology and compensation to the wounded official.

I think this is one step to far


http://eurosport.yahoo.com/news/police-probe-nalbandian-assault-091145441.html

HN,

What was he expecting when kicking an advertising board right under the the line judges feet?

If anything the punishment fitted the crime. Yes the spectators got a raw deal, but their anger should be at the player and not the tournament organisers.

Next time David might bring his brain on to court.

LK it WAS NOT ASSAULT... how can they be bringing the police into this.. totally outrageous Have the coppers nothing better to do with their time.
And Im sorry LK I do not agree with your opinion..he has made his due apologies and paid the price. You will be calling for a jail sentence next.Anyone who knows tennis and has known Nalbandian all these years knows him to be a gentelman.. he is doubtless ashamed and devasted by what he has done.. I think the weight of public opinion will come down on his side. I sincerely hope so

The more I think about this the more angry I become. Nothing happened to Serena Williams (a stupid $2000 fine for threatening someone's life) or Djokovic fairly recently.

Of course Nalby is not one of the big players and so the sport will make a huge example of him to perpetuate the myth that Tennis will come down hard on such misdemeanours. I wonder just how hard they would come down on the massive names like Serena and Novak considering they would be caking their pants at the potential lawsuits from the massive and powerful sponsors of the elite players.

I am also angry as to why the sport has become so corporate that their decide to put advertising horading around a judges feet! I've never heard the like of it!

The line judge was also clearly landed, milking the situation to the max. No doubt he'll live on this for months telling all his chums in the bowls club. He's probably ringing all those people he said he'd never contact that he met on his Saga holidays.

Bottom line, Nalby lost all his money, ranking points and said sorry. He has to live with the stick of that for the rest of his career. That is enough. He smacked someone's shin FFS , that is all, now leave the police out of it. And the ATP/ITF can also shut up about it and leave it at that. They wouldn't dare make an example out of him if he was Nadal or something.

Haddie-nuff wrote:LK it WAS NOT ASSAULT... how can they be bringing the police into this.. totally outrageous Have the coppers nothing better to do with their time.
And Im sorry LK I do not agree with your opinion..he has made his due apologies and paid the price. You will be calling for a jail sentence next.Anyone who knows tennis and has known Nalbandian all these years knows him to be a gentelman.. he is doubtless ashamed and devasted by what he has done.. I think the weight of public opinion will come down on his side. I sincerely hope so

Really? What was it?

I don't agree with the coppers being involved, but I don't like the fact the injury suffered by the judge is being downplayed by personal attack on another poster removed on here!!

Have some chuffing respect!

The police step will be part of the legal process to allow the the line judge to sue Nalbandian for assault/bodily harm.
Nalby would likely pay well and keep it out of court.

So the line judge may end up smiling about it after all.
A very expensive kick for Nalbandian and a sad end to his career given this is what people will remember him for most I suspect.

At the end of the day he just shouldnt have kicked that board should he...whether or not it should have been there is immaterial. It was and he kicked it...and the shin behind it too. I'm sorry but what a chump.

lydian wrote:The police step will be part of the legal process to allow the the line judge to sue Nalbandian for assault/bodily harm.
Nalby would likely pay well and keep it out of court.

So the line judge may end up smiling about it after all.
A very expensive kick for Nalbandian and a sad end to his career given this is what people will remember him for most I suspect.

At the end of the day he just shouldnt have kicked that board should he...whether or not it should have been there is immaterial. It was and he kicked it...and the shin behind it too. I'm sorry but what a chump.

Very well put lydian.

Couldn't agree more.

Oh pi$$ off mods!

I am not being told by another poster what I would be asking for next in my opinion!

Nadal ... o of course Nadal..(albeit you have never seen him smash a racquet). why not Roger even more of a scandal me thinks..

Every time a player smashes a raquet or a piece of equipment they run the danger of flying debris hitting an innocent bystander..
There but the grace of God go many players imo.
Not that I believe that Nalbandian should not receive his due "penalty" but this is way way OTT

legendkillarV2 wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:LK it WAS NOT ASSAULT... how can they be bringing the police into this.. totally outrageous Have the coppers nothing better to do with their time.
And Im sorry LK I do not agree with your opinion..he has made his due apologies and paid the price. You will be calling for a jail sentence next.Anyone who knows tennis and has known Nalbandian all these years knows him to be a gentelman.. he is doubtless ashamed and devasted by what he has done.. I think the weight of public opinion will come down on his side. I sincerely hope so

Really? What was it?

I don't agree with the coppers being involved, but I don't like the fact the injury suffered by the judge is being downplayed by personal attack on another poster removed on here!!

Have some chuffing respect!

LK, I think the disqualification was completely justified, the kick was way too close to the chair umpire anyway, had the hoarding not been in place he'd have either kicked the official or the chair.


That said, how about showing some "chuffing respect" to your fellow posters. It's not a crime for someone to disagree with you, so lay off the personal attacks. Abusing them (a) weakens your argument and (b) is against site rules.

I think the following shows it was an accident - no way could Nalbandian have seen the linesjudge hidden behind the advertising hoarding (please note this clip has loud sound to it):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJxdkCcUYtE

I feel sorry for him in that he's lost everything from the event.
There is an argument he should have forfeited only yesterday's match but kept the finalist (or even semi-finalist) points.

However, moneywise his tournament prize fee should also be forfeited.
I would put that back into the kitty to help refund the spectators for a situation he caused.

Super D Boon wrote:The more I think about this the more angry I become. Nothing happened to Serena Williams (a stupid $2000 fine for threatening someone's life) or Djokovic fairly recently.

Of course Nalby is not one of the big players and so the sport will make a huge example of him to perpetuate the myth that Tennis will come down hard on such misdemeanours. I wonder just how hard they would come down on the massive names like Serena and Novak considering they would be caking their pants at the potential lawsuits from the massive and powerful sponsors of the elite players.

I am also angry as to why the sport has become so corporate that their decide to put advertising horading around a judges feet! I've never heard the like of it!

The line judge was also clearly landed, milking the situation to the max. No doubt he'll live on this for months telling all his chums in the bowls club. He's probably ringing all those people he said he'd never contact that he met on his Saga holidays.

Bottom line, Nalby lost all his money, ranking points and said sorry. He has to live with the stick of that for the rest of his career. That is enough. He smacked someone's shin FFS , that is all, now leave the police out of it. And the ATP/ITF can also shut up about it and leave it at that. They wouldn't dare make an example out of him if he was Nadal or something.

Problem is, he didn't really did he? I mean, not sincerely and wholly, and accepting full responsibility. He brought up playing a lot and wet courts. It was like listening to a 7 year old blaming everyone else for making him.

It still tickles me how the ballgirl holds up 2 balls for the next serve...lol.

Also the look on Nalby's face after he's realised whats happened...he's in total incomprehension.

What I didnt like was the attack on the ATP afterwards...he should have just fell on his sword, said he'll arrange a meeting with the line judge, etc, to apologise, etc, etc...but instead he seemed hellbent on trying to mitigate why he did what he did.

I like the guy but he's been a complete numpty - and this will stain his legacy given his career is not as glittering as it should have been anyway.

Taking a slightly different perspective on it... I can only assume that the advertising hoarding was there to protect the line judge´s his legs should a player run into it by accident otherwise what was the purpose of his legs being behind it.

Had Nalby slid or skidded to retrieve the ball and smashed into the hoarding it would as they say been a different ball game... laughable really !!!

Assault?
His intention was not to try to injure the linejudge, but it was an act of stupidity.

Whoever reported this to the police is frankly pathetic.

I think he should be fined hugely, obviously the ranking points and money earned in that tournament should go; and he should probably be banned from Queens for a year.

However at the end of the day it was a kick of frustration, not an attempt to injure anyone- mindless and stupid. If he goes to jail for assault that will be beyond ridiculous.

I think it was just advertising Haddie, nothing more, nothing less. Queen's will sell any inch of advertising space they can...they'll sell that camera's capture space around the line judges when scanning the players on court.

Its all about intent. He purposefully kicked the board. Why? I dont think even he'll ever know. Red mist I suspect...he cant have even thought about the line judge or he wouldnt have done it. BUT...he committed a grievous error of judgement nonethless which ended up being an 'assault' (i.e. in that it caused physical violence on someone...but its not battery)...and now has to pay for his actions. I disagree he should be banned from entering next year.

He knows he's done wrong and I bet he's a very unhappy guy today - not for the money or points (he can live without either) but for his reputation and image.

His comments about the ATP were indeed lamentable, and shamefully misplaced given what he had just done only minutes earlier.

Ironically, I think Nalby could well have well come out of it all with his reputation reasonably intact. A clear, sincere - but most of all, unreserved apology - is all that was needed for most folk to accept that it was purely a moment of madness and that he's actually a decent guy, albeit prone to regrettable actions in the way that we all can be at times.

But once you imply, even if unintentionally, that the governing body of the sport is somehow to blame for your own bad behaviour, and that totally unrelated issues in the game are mitigating factors, then any credibility you might have had is gone ........

Yes I agree lydian (oh voice of reason) but let not any player believe when they smash a raquet or equipment that is ok for them because they didn´t hurt anyone..on this occasion. I hope that something has been learned from this sad stupid action that no one is beyond reproach if tempers are aired in such a manner .. whoever they are.

:wah: Nalby

Indeed Haddie...breaking racquets on netposts or chairs is lamentable too. For me an intentionally broken racquet should always forfeit a point.
But dont think we can ever compare it to yesterday or treat it the same.

Also, completely agree lags.

This is where he's completely undone himself for me - and actually I've lost a bit of respect for the guy. Yes, it was a fit of pique...clearly...but be a man about it and just admit you were a complete plonker. The ATP did not force him to kick that boarding.

Rather they have given him a money-laden tour to join that has made him rich beyond his wildest dreams. It would seem being waited on hand and foot, free meals, sponsorships, free equipment, clothes, being treated well by events, etc, for 10 years or so has gone to his head and all he can think of after that fit of pique was to blame the hand that has almost literally fed him.

Haddie-nuff wrote:Nadal ... o of course Nadal..(albeit you have never seen him smash a racquet). why not Roger even more of a scandal me thinks..

Every time a player smashes a raquet or a piece of equipment they run the danger of flying debris hitting an innocent bystander..
There but the grace of God go many players imo.
Not that I believe that Nalbandian should not receive his due "penalty" but this is way way OTT

Given the above, would it make more sense to introduce a no-tolerance stance on any negative physical abuse on court. I.e anything gets smashed, broken merits an instant default? It would stop such events happening and tidy up what we/our kids see on screen. To me its similar-ish to the Djoko incident, as there was risk there of something hitting some one (i don't think Djoko thought a hole would be smashed through the perrier sign, but it did). To me also it was not as bad as the Serena incident in which a line judge was physically threatened (only 1 point penalty), rather than just impacted by some ones stupidity (Dave kicking a board). I would have thought the default rule is there in the event that a line judge got punched or something, rather than hit by flying debris, so for me this was just something waiting to happen given all the negative emotion we get to see on court. Personally i'd prefer it eradicated from the game by severe blanket penalties. I think in particular Serena's lack of proper penalty (a ban) shows there's disparity in the current system of rules.

Tom_____ wrote:

Haddie-nuff wrote:Nadal ... o of course Nadal..(albeit you have never seen him smash a racquet). why not Roger even more of a scandal me thinks..

Every time a player smashes a raquet or a piece of equipment they run the danger of flying debris hitting an innocent bystander..
There but the grace of God go many players imo.
Not that I believe that Nalbandian should not receive his due "penalty" but this is way way OTT

Given the above, would it make more sense to introduce a no-tolerance stance on any negative physical abuse on court. I.e anything gets smashed, broken merits an instant default? It would stop such events happening and tidy up what we/our kids see on screen. To me its similar-ish to the Djoko incident, as there was risk there of something hitting some one (i don't think Djoko thought a hole would be smashed through the perrier sign, but it did). To me also it was not as bad as the Serena incident in which a line judge was physically threatened (only 1 point penalty), rather than just impacted by some ones stupidity (Dave kicking a board). I would have thought the default rule is there in the event that a line judge got punched or something, rather than hit by flying debris, so for me this was just something waiting to happen given all the negative emotion we get to see on court. Personally i'd prefer it eradicated from the game by severe blanket penalties. I think in particular Serena's lack of proper penalty (a ban) shows there's disparity in the current system of rules.

Silly question, but does Serena's relatively light penalty have to do with different jurisdictions? I.e was she charged under WTA rules rather than ATP?

Probably kiwi...although I'm sure the code will be very similar.
I;m not sure about blanket defaults for "abusive" behaviour on court,,,i.e. even to a player's own racquet/

You can sometimes really feel for a player if the play hasnt gone their way...or they are letting slip a winning lead, or are turning in a woeful peformance in a key match...if they were to break their racquet on the court floor in the middle of the court I wouldnt deem that a default situation. A point penalty yes...but not a default. For me defaulting from abuse must come from threatening abuse to officials, the public or bringing the game into disrepute, e.g. particularly offensive swearing/gesturing on court.

In that scenario, I would agree that Serena should have been defaulted. But I dont agree with racquet breaking unless its done in a threatening way to officials/public, e.g. breaking the racquet right next to an official/ballperson/audience member in a way that it looked like they were going to hit them.

Players are role models to children but we all learn in life that there are times when its very hard to keep ones "cool". I'm not for turning tennis into a quiet game of stiff upper lip nor am I for allowing the players to get away with murder either. We have to use shades of grey still in assessing each event on its own merit....blanket rules I dont think will work across all types of "abuse".

Once upon a time points were deducted for racquet abuse and I dont know why they actually did away with it

Like you Tom I think the no-tolerance stance of any kind of abuse on court should be applied. This then could include the overhaul of the time wasting rule and mis-conduct at all levels

Tennis only makes big headlines when something like what Nalbandian did happens, you all should kissing his a$$ he did what he did. Tennis will be dead with Federer and Nadal being on best behaviour, doing nothing out of the norm.

Nalbandian has saved the ATP and he gets his prizemoney taken?

Nothing would happen if Murray done it

I agree about time-wasting, etc. That needs to be addressed...and if a player is warned 3 times in a match then yes default them.
But I still dont agree breaking a racquet on the court out in the open should warrant a default.

Yeah right JM...I guess every line judge should have his shins kicked from now on right to create the headlines you're talking about.
Nalby's situation has done nothing for the ATP...just made him look a plonker. Murray would have been defaulted also.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Tennis only makes big headlines when something like what Nalbandian did happens, you all should kissing his a$$ he did what he did. Tennis will be dead with Federer and Nadal being on best behaviour, doing nothing out of the norm.

Nalbandian has saved the ATP and he gets his prizemoney taken?

Nothing would happen if Murray done it

Yeah, we need more violence on court. If only Nalby had actually beaten the line judge up, that would have been great for tennis.

JM this is tennis not football.. they don´t issue line judges with shin pads.

Grunting and yelling Vamos should be looked at as a public disorder offence.Serve and volley needs to be used at least once in a serve game.

Well that gets rid of 99% of the players on tour

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Tennis only makes big headlines when something like what Nalbandian did happens, you all should kissing his a$$ he did what he did. Tennis will be dead with Federer and Nadal being on best behaviour, doing nothing out of the norm.

Nalbandian has saved the ATP and he gets his prizemoney taken?

Nothing would happen if Murray done it

Yeah, we need more violence on court. If only Nalby had actually beaten the line judge up, that would have been great for tennis.

You get offended by a kick to the leg?

Dread to think what you'd do if you were called up to the army.

Kiwireddevil wrote:
Silly question, but does Serena's relatively light penalty have to do with different jurisdictions? I.e was she charged under WTA rules rather than ATP?

It was under USTA rules. ITF could add more to it since it was at a slam.

Serena Williams was fined $10,500 by the U.S. Open, the maximum allowable financial penalty "on site," according to USTA senior director of public relations Chris Widmaier. U.S. Open tournament director Jim Curley said the fine was for Williams' "threatening manner" and added in an interview that the tournament considered -- and decided against -- preventing Williams from participating in the doubles final.

Another shoe could drop in the form of additional fines or a suspension from the next Grand Slam event. International Tennis Federation executive director Bill Babcock will review the incident and recommend whether further action should be taken by the Grand Slam committee, which is made up of representatives of all four majors. He told ESPN.com the process, which includes interviewing the parties involved, probably will take several weeks.

http://sports.espn.go.com/sports/tennis/usopen09/news/story?id=4472638

lydian wrote:Yeah right JM...I guess every line judge should have his shins kicked from now on right to create the headlines you're talking about.
Nalby's situation has done nothing for the ATP...just made him look a plonker. Murray would have been defaulted also.

"Done nothing for the ATP"

It made the news, and a lot of non tennis fans were commenting on it. Federer and Nadal could never do that. More characters like Nalbandian and Roddick will be better for the game.

Absolutely... why not have people who dont play tennis at all to go in and beat up the officials...the crowd would probably pay to watch the new sport...and Roger and Rafa can retire.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:

JuliusHMarx wrote:

Josiah Maiestas wrote:Tennis only makes big headlines when something like what Nalbandian did happens, you all should kissing his a$$ he did what he did. Tennis will be dead with Federer and Nadal being on best behaviour, doing nothing out of the norm.

Nalbandian has saved the ATP and he gets his prizemoney taken?

Nothing would happen if Murray done it

Yeah, we need more violence on court. If only Nalby had actually beaten the line judge up, that would have been great for tennis.

You get offended by a kick to the leg?

Dread to think what you'd do if you were called up to the army.

You're weird.

So making the news is good for the ATP? Seeing a line judge kicked is going to bring more fans to tennis? How do you figure that exactly? The game always needs characters...but not violence. Characters in the game are those that win and bear their emotions/feelings...not lose and lash out.

He just likes to be contrary JHM...you'll notice he tends to post more when there's negativity going on.

Josiah Maiestas wrote:
You get offended by a kick to the leg?

Dread to think what you'd do if you were called up to the army.

Over the years we've had lots of very strange posts on 606, both here on v2 and even more so on the original version.

But this has to be right up there as one of the most bizarre