London, June 26 (DPA) Disgruntled Romanian Victor Hanescu was fined $15,000 Saturday as Wimbledon sought to stub out a distasteful spitting incident which may have sparked four arrests in an unruly tennis crowd.
‘Following a review conducted by the Championships’ referee in association with the Grand Slam Supervisors into the incident on Court 18 Friday evening, Victor Hanescu has been fined $7,500 for Unsportsmanlike Conduct and a further 7,500 dollars for not using Best Efforts at the conclusion of the match,’ read a terse statement from Wimbledon officials.
The incident occurred Friday as Hanescu sought to call an end to a third-round match which he eventually quit against German Daniel Brands.
Hanescu, treated earlier for a thigh injury, eventually quit the match trailing 0-3 in the fifth set and stormed off court.
Reports indicated that the player may have spat at fans as the match ended in fading light. Hanescu had earlier asked chair umpire Kim Craven to stop play, a request which was refused at the time.
Trailing 0-2, the seething Hanescu was called on various foot faults and drew catcalls from a section on the public. He answered with an obscenity and was reportedly seen spitting towards the fans before forfeiting a game later.
Elsewhere on the unusually lively court, four spectators were arrested on public order charges, but police would not say if they were related to the Hanescu incident.
‘The initial thought was that the four people arrested were part of the same spitting incident. But the thinking now is it was just a random coincidence,’ said a club spokesman.
Hansecu drew a code violation for his outburst, which resulted in the double set of fines.
