Davydenko fined for not trying
2007-10-26 14:14
St Petersburg - World number four Nikolay Davydenko has been fined $2 000 for not trying hard enough during his shock defeat by Croatian qualifier Marin Cilic at the St Petersburg Open on Thursday.
"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."
The Russian is being investigated by the ATP after his
first-round match against Argentine Martin Vassallo Arguello in
Poland in August attracted irregular betting patterns.
Davydenko is scheduled to take part in next week's Paris
Masters, where he is defending champion.
- Reuters