French tennis player Hugo Gaston’s unsportsmanlike conduct draws $155K fine; tops his 2023 earnings

By The Associated Press

FILE - France's Hugo Gaston prepares to serve against Japan's Yoshihito Nishioka in the second round match of the French Open tennis tournament at the Roland Garros stadium in Paris, France, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020. On Monday, May 22, 2023, the ATP Tour announced Gaston was fined 144,000 euros (about $155,000) - more than he’s collected in prize money so far in 2023 - for pulling a ball out of his pocket and throwing it on the court during a point in an attempt to get a do-over, his fourth unsportsmanlike conduct violation this season. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino, File)[ASSOCIATED PRESS/Alessandra Tarantino]

LONDON (AP) — A professional tennis player from France has been fined more than he’s collected in prize money so far in 2023 for pulling a ball out of his pocket and throwing it on the court during a point in an attempt to get a do-over. Hugo Gaston’s fourth unsportsmanlike conduct violation this season drew a fine of about $155,000 from the ATP Tour. Gaston has made a little more than $120,000 in prize money this year. The tour announced its ruling on Monday, saying that Gaston’s appeal of the punishment got it reduced by half to about $77,500, as long as he meets certain conditions, including no additional violations during a probationary period of a year.