David Nalbandian has been a professional tennis player for at least 12 years, has been in 23 finals, so this was nothing new to him. This was only his 2nd final on grass court, last time was in 2002, both of which were in London. You would think that someone with that much experience would know how to behave.
But you’d be wrong.
He had won the first set 7-6, and was 3-4 in the second set. He made a mistake and instead of moving on like most players would, he decided to take out his anger on the advertising board.
Other players have kicked at the boards when they’re frustrated, but unlike those players, Nalbandian ended up hurting the linesman. He kicked out in frustration and the boards broke, cutting the linesman on the leg and causing him to bleed. The tournament’s officials came out and decided to default Nalbandian, which means that Marin Cilic, from Croatia, won the final.
Here’s the video of the incident:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFYjXURAAS0&feature=related
He later apologized for his actions, but it might be too little, too late. I know there are a lot of people who have lost respect for him. After all, he’s a grown man, he should how to behave in these situations. He let his anger take over and in the end, had to pay for his actions.
Image via twitter, thanks to @AlexandriaSS.
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