$31,500 – that’s the total amount of fines being collected at the 2009 US Open according to tournament spokesman Chris Widmaier.
The majority of this is obviously covered by the $10,000 fine incurred by Serena Williams for unsportsmanlike conduct for abusing a line judge during her semi-final loss to Kim Clijsters. Williams was also fined $500 for racquet abuse during the same match.
This amount is only 3% of her prize money for reaching the Semi-finals. However, the fine could increase depending on the outcome of the investigation to see if the abuse should be considered a ‘major offence’.
Three players received fines of $1,500 for audible obscenity. The most noteworthy being Roger Federer, whose curse during an argument with the umpire during his final loss to Juan Martin Del Potro, was picked up by CBS microphones during the live broadcast.
The two other players facing the same fine are Vera Zvonareva and Daniel Koellerer.
Another player facing a significant fine is Canadian Daniel Nestor. Playing in the doubles quarter-finals with Serbian partner Nenad Zimonjic, Nestor became enraged by a rowdy group of fans and was was fined $5,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct aimed at said fans;
During the match, which the pair eventually lost to Max Mirnyi of Belarus and Andy Ram of Israel, Nestor said to the chair umpire "Your job is to say something, this is not Davis Cup," adding. "There is something called sportsmanship.". He complained that the umpire was not controlling the group, who were calling our and distracting him with their support for Mirnyi and Ram.
After the match he and Ram exchanged harsh words, and in his post match interview he said "I don't mind losing if we get beat, But not losing if some guy in the crowd is acting like a jackass.”
