Nalbandian will count cost in cash and ranking points

Nalbandian won the first set of his final against Marin Cilic on centre court but then lost his temper in the second set in outrageous fashion.

The Argentinian, a professional of 12 years, was broken in the seventh game and responded by kicking an advertising hoarding that was directly in front of the chair of line judge Andrew McDougall.

The plywood board came off its hinges and ploughed straight in to McDougall’s shin, causing an inch-long gash from which blood began to seep.

ATP supervisor Tom Barnes came on to the court and ordered the match to Cilic, much to the annoyance of the 6,000 paying crowd members, who booed the decision loudly.

Barnes confirmed afterwards Nalbandian would not receive his £36,500 runner’s-up prize, and that he also faces a fine of up to £6,400 for the incident.

“It was unsportsmanlike conduct. Once I saw the injury, I didn’t have any other option,” Barnes said.

“With the default it’s automatic that you lose the ranking points, and you lose the prize money from the tournament, hospitality costs, and he’s subject to a fine which can be up to $10,000, and that is undetermined at the moment.”

Nalbandian apologised to McDougall immediately afterwards, but followed it up with an on-court tirade against the ATP, which could earn him yet another fine. “I feel very sorry for the guy. I didn’t want to do that,” Nalbandian said.

“But sometimes you get angry. Sometimes you cannot control moments and that kind of thing happens.

“When I hit the panel I didn’t want to do it as bad as that.

“I thought it was bad. I didn’t realise how bad it was until I saw him, and that’s why I stayed and asked him if he was okay.

“Sometimes you get very frustrated on court.

“It’s a tough moment to end a final like that but sometimes we feel so much pressure from the ATP playing so many tournaments.

“At the beginning of the year you have to sign an agreement with the ATP that says you have to agree with everything they say. Sometimes you don’t agree. If you don’t want to sign, you cannot play ATP tournaments.”

The 30-year-old, who was making his first appearance in a grass court final since 2002 when he got to the last two at Wimbledon, was fined £5,400 for throwing water at a staff member at the Australian Open in January.

Fans were outraged at yesterday’s decision, booing tournament officials when they handed out the prizes.

Tournament director Chris Kermode said it was the right decision, however.

“It was a very, very clear cut case,” he said. “Some of the crowd had a different view. But from a rules perspective, there was absolutely no other choice.”