Argentinian tennis star David Nalbandian was disqualified from the Queen’s Club final over the weekend after angrily kicking an advertising board which, in turn, hit a line judge. The judge sustained a bloody leg in the incident.
Nalbandian, who won the first set 7-6 (7/3) against Croatia’s Marin Cilic, had just lost his serve to fall 4-3 down in the second set when he angrily kicked the sign, which was sitting right in front of line judge Andrew McDougall.
McDougall then rolled up his pants to reveal a bloody wound on his leg.
The match was stopped and, after several minutes, ATP supervisor Tom Barnes came onto the court to inform officials that Nalbandian has been disqualified ”due to unsportsmanike behavior.” Cilic was then declared the champion.
After initially responding with frustration, Nalbandian would later return to the court to apologize for his behavior.
“I am sorry to do that. Sometimes we get very frustrated here on court. It is tough to control,” he said, before attacking ATP officials.
“It is a tough moment to end a final like that. Sometimes we feel the pressure from the ATP. It is a mistake and I have to pay for that. Everybody makes mistakes.
“There are a lot of rules and sometimes they don’t do anything. The rule book is very big and I can tell you the ATP do a lot to the players and nothing happens.”
It doesn’t end there, though. British police have announced that they will investigate the incident.
“We are aware of an incident at the Aegon Championships on June 17,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said today (Monday). “A complaint has been made and the Metropolitan police service is now investigating. The allegation is of assault.”
Check out video of the incident below. What do you think? Should David Nalbandian be investigated for assault?
Related articles
- Tennis player disqualified after injuring line judge (foxnews.com)
- Police investigate assault complaint vs Nalbandian (nbcsports.msnbc.com)
- David Nalbandian Video: Watch Tennis Star Get Disqualified for Injuring Linesman (bleacherreport.com)

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