Tennis matches are often extremely tense, hard-fought battles. Tennis players occasionally lose their tempers in the heat of these match.
In these situations, a player’s behavior can sometimes be very unsportsmanlike and result in him or her being appropriately punished. Occasionally, due to inappropriate behavior on the field, players can even be punished by disqualification from the tournament.
I thought it would be interesting to look back at some of the most infamous tennis penalties from some of the biggest names in tennis, including Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Nick Kyrgios, Serena Williams and others.
Tennis Penalties that Resulted in Disqualification
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic, perhaps the best player of all time, was disqualified from the US Open a few years ago and showed that even the most poised players can make mistakes and lose their tempers.
In the round of 16 at the 2020 U.S. Open , Novak Djokovic played a match against Pablo Carreno Busta. Busta, from Spain, advanced to the quarterfinals without even finishing the first set of the match. With the first set tied at 5-5, Busta broke Djokovic’s serve and took a 6-5 lead.
Credit: ATP Tour
Djokovic, in frustration, hit a tennis ball to the back of the court and it hit a linesman in the throat. It was clear that Djokovic did not do it on purpose and that it was not an excessively strong shot. He was also extremely apologetic.
Nevertheless, the organizers decided to disqualify him and send a message to all players that this sort of behavior will not be tolerated.
Nick Kyrgios
Kyrgios is a player with superb talent and a bad-boy reputation. This reputation is well-deserved as he has been punished several times for his on-court behavior.
Kyrgios was disqualified at the 2019 ATP Rome Masters in a match against Casper Ruud because he lost his temper, cursed at the crowd, insulted the referee, threw his racket and even threw a chair onto the court.
David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian, an Argentinian player who was once the #3 player in the world, exhibited extremely poor behavior in a 2012 match against Marin Cilic at the AEGON Championships in London.
Nalbandian was playing in the finals at the Aegon Championships against Cilic, from Croatia. Nalbandian had a one-set advantage, but Cilic managed to break Nalbandian’s serve at 3-3 in the second set. Nalbandian, in frustration, kicked the wooden advertising board that surrounded the area where the linesman was standing.
The linesman was injured. This was an easy decision for the tournament organizers, and Nalbandian was disqualified. He was also fined and forfeited 150 ranking points. Nalbandian was even investigated by the police over the assault, although he was ultimately not arrested.
Denis Shapovalov
Denis Shapovalov, just 17 years old and from Canada, was playing a 2017 Davis Cup match against Kyle Edmund from Great Britain, when he joined the roster of players being punished for bad behavior.
In this instance, Edmund was winning two sets to zero when he broke Shapovalov’s serve in the third set and seemed to be on his way to a comfortable victory. Shapovalov was furious with himself for losing the game and he angrily hit a tennis ball which accidentally hit the chair umpire, Arnaud Gabas, in the eye.
Gabas was injured and later went to the hospital to confirm he did not suffer any permanent damage to his eye. Shapovalov was immediately disqualified. Shapovalov was also fined, although he did not receive the maximum fine due to this being extremely apologetic.
One interesting aspect of this incident is that it was simply Shapovalov’s bad luck that his shot hit the umpire. Had he not hit the umpire, he may have been penalized for hitting a ball into the stands, but her certainly would not have been disqualified. However, because he did hit and injure the chair umpire, he, obviously, had to be disqualified.
Alexander Zverev
At the 2022 Mexico Open in Acapulco, Alexander Zverev completely lost his temper and exhibited possibly the worst behavior I have ever witnessed at a tennis match. Zverev, who was playing doubles with Marcelo Melo, had just lost a match against Lloyd Glasspool and Harri Heliovaara when he attacked the umpire’s chair while yelling at the umpire.
Zverev, from Germany, was already furious at the umpire because Zverev believed that the umpire made a very bad call with the score 8-6 in the third set 10-point tiebreaker. Zverev screamed and cursed at the umpire, and was given a code violation.
Zverev and Melo lost the next point and the match was over with a final score of 6-2, 4-6, 10-6. Zverev was still furious and immediately approached the chair umpire, Alessandro Germani, at which time he repeatedly and violently smashed his racquet into the chair while yelling at the umpire.
As he had already lost this match, the tournament organizers disqualified him from his singles match, and he also received a fine and forfeited all of his prize money and ranking points from the tournament.
Later, he was put on one-year probation during which time he would receive an eight week suspension from the ATP tour if he received another fine for verbal or physical abuse or unsportsmanlike conduct.
Of course, many other great players have also been disqualified for inappropriate behavior including Fabio Fognini, Daniil Medvedev, Andre Agassi, Tim Henman and John McEnroe.
Other Penalties
Nick Kyrgios
In addition to disqualification, players have also been punished in other ways. Kyrgios has been fined many other times for unsportsmanlike conduct, including 5 separate penalties at just the 2022 U.S. Open.
Kyrgios is the most fined tennis player in history! At the 2022 Wimbledon, he received fines for cursing and spitting in the direction of a spectator. earned a similar fine for spitting and shooting the ball into the crowd.
Kyrgios was fined $25,000 at the 2022 Indian Wells tournament for insulting the referee and almost hitting a ball boy with his racket. In 2022 in Miami, he earned a $35,000 fine for smashing his racket against the bench and insulting the referee.
In Cincinnati, in 2019, he completely lost his composure and received a $113,000 fine for insulting the referee, breaking his racket and leaving the court.
Roger Federer was Punished
Although he seems very calm on the court, Roger Federer was punished on several occasions. Federer was fined $3,000 at the 2020 Australian Open after swearing at a linesman. At the 2009 U.S. Open, he was fined $1,500 for arguing with the referee.
Serena Williams Loses Temper
In the women’s category, Serena Williams was penalized at the 2009 U.S. Open for verbally attacking the linesman who ruled she committed a foot fault in her semi-final match against Kim Clijsters.
This occurred with Clijsters two points away from winning the match, and the foot fault set up a match point for Clijsters. Williams verbally attacked the line judge and even threatened to shove the ball down the line judge’s throat.
The chair umpire issued a point penalty against Williams, and as it was now match point, Clijsters was declared the winner. Williams was also fined $82,500 for her behavior.
She was also put on probation for two years, and would have received an additional 92,500 fine and been banned at up to three future U.S. Opens if she committed another major violation at a Grand Slam tournament during the probationary period.
I hope this article about the Most Famous Tennis Penalties was awesome.
