The Queen's Championships final finished earlier than prompted when David Nalbandian was disqualified for unsporting conduct. His opponent, Marin Cilic, was declared the winner midway through the second set despite being behind in the match.
Nalbandian took the first set 7-6 before Cilic took a 4-3 lead in the second. The game was heating up nicely at this point but the Argentine's emotions got the better of him. After losing the game to go 4-3 down, Nalbandian kicked an advertising board which was in front of a line judge. The board and Nalbandian's foot then went into the line judge's shin, opening up a wound.
The umpire had no choice but to reward the victory to Cilic via default as Nalbandian had broken the rules for violent conduct. The full house at Queen's responded badly to the decision and the wait for the impromptu presentation caused a chorus of boos to line the court.
After Cilic was given the trophy, Nalbandian was asked to give his post-match interview without collecting the runner-up medal. The Argentine did apologise for his action, but instead of saying sorry and leaving it at that, Nalbandian went onto blame the ATP. He believes that the rulebook gets interpreted in different ways in different occasions. It is this apparent inconsistency that frustrates the players, according to Nalbandian, and the final should have been allowed to continue.
As far as the comments are concerned, Nalbandian has made himself to look very foolish. Hype was building around his great form heading into Wimbledon but that has turned into disappointment with his manner. His attack on the ATP will fall on deaf ears as he still stands to lose his prize money for his efforts this week.
Fortunately, the line judge suffered no more than a painful gash that will no doubt bruise heavily. It is not the way anyone would have wanted the final to end. Hopefully, nothing like this happens for a long time, especially not at Wimbledon.
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