“Nikolay Davydenko was fined $2,000 for lack of best effort in his second-round match against Marin Cilic,” the governing body for men’s tennis, ATP, said in a statement on Friday.
The top seed played near-flawless tennis in the first set against the 102nd-ranked Cilic but then started making numerous errors and committed 10 double faults in the last two sets.
He was warned by Belgian umpire Jean-Philippe Dercq in the final set for not trying hard enough.
“I double-faulted to lose a game in the third set and he gave me a warning saying I was trying to lose on purpose,” Davydenko told reporters after the match.
“I was simply shocked to hear him say that. This is just outrageous. How does he know what I was trying to do? I was so upset with the whole thing I started crying.” [Yahoo]
I never knew that the ATP can actually do that. I think it is a bit harsh though… I didn’t watch the match so I am not sure how deliberate Davydenko was, but every player would have his bad day, and it is probably an unlucky day for Davydenko.