ATP: “Meltdown”: A fat fine for outbursts

The Frenchman Benoit Paire has to pay dearly for his outburst at the hard court tournament in Washington D.C..

The ATP fined the 29-year-old the equivalent of 16,500 euros after he destroyed several thugs during his first-round match against Cypriot Marcos Baghdatis on Tuesday (local time).

In the last set, Paire had hit a supposedly simple butterball into the net, thus taking the break to 2-5 deficit. He then hit the hard court several times with his bat and threw him frustrated into the field. As a result, two more blows to Paire’s wrath were felt.

The world number 55 lost 3:6, 6:3, 2:6 and the penalty for unsportiness amounts to more than half of the Frenchman’s starting fee.