Tennis Prose




May/23

15

Shocking Huge Fine For Hugo Gaston In Madrid

A former ATP player told me this shocking news about an enormous fine on 22 year old Hugo Gaston, ranked 110.

“Hugo Gaston was on probation for tapping the umpire chair at Australian Open (qualies). And then in Madrid he deliberately dropped a ball out of his pocket on set point down against Borna Coric, to try to a ‘replay of point.’ The chair umpire did not fall for it but did not warn Gaston. After the match, the incident was reviewed and it was decided it was ‘unsportsmanlike conduct’ on the highest level.” (Gaston lost in 2R to Coric 63 63.)

The player with knowledge of the situation added, “They changed the level of fines this year to have more leverage on guys like Kyrgios. They doubled Gaston’s fine because he was already on probation. It was supposed to be $60,000 but the final fine amount was $144,000. Younes El Aynaoui was telling he, he is Gaston’s coach. Gaston has earned $117,000 so far this year.”

This anecdote is not the only controversial story in pro tennis. Another questionable incident, which was not revealed to the media, involved veteran Czech Republic doubles player “Andrej Martin, who got away with some BS excuse on how he got a forbidden substance in his system. Martin said he drank from his friend’s bottle during a fun soccer match. The friend confirmed the story and that was it.”

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28 comments

  • Sam · May 16, 2023 at 4:00 am

    Martin said he drank from his friendโ€™s bottle during a fun soccer match. The friend confirmed the story and that was it.

    Wait a minute, Scoop. He failed a drug test??? And then his “excuse” got him completely off?? Seriously? ๐Ÿ˜ฎ

    As for betting on Marozsan, remember JohnnyTD (from Hungary) who used to post here?? He may well have. ๐Ÿ˜‰

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 16, 2023 at 7:30 am

    Yes Sam, this is what I was told by a former player with contact with another former player now coach. A greater excuse maybe than Richard Gasquet’s positive cocaine test on kissing a girl in Miami.

  • Matt Segel · May 16, 2023 at 2:23 pm

    Yeah, Gasquet excuse was pretty boss! Making out with hot models who were all coked up… doesn’t get any better than that. Well played Richard.

  • Sam · May 16, 2023 at 7:15 pm

    How recently did the Martin incident happen, Scoop?

    Wowโ€”didn’t know that about Gasquet. ๐Ÿคช

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 16, 2023 at 8:33 pm

    Matt, that is the greatest excuse of all time and it actually worked. Maybe with some help from the FFT )

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 16, 2023 at 8:34 pm

    Sam, I don’t know when Martin incident happened but I can find out.

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 16, 2023 at 8:46 pm

    Rumor: USTA SOLD THE SOUTHERN & WESTERN OPEN ONLY TO SEE IT NOW MOVE TO NORTH CAROLINA?

    Desperately in need of cash to pay down a $726,000,000 mountain of debt, the USTA sold the only money-making asset they had, Cincinnati’s Western & Southern Open. Was that a smart idea? The proposed move is causing problems and outrage both in Cincinnati and in Charlotte. We let some experts chime in… Stay tuned.

  • Bill McGill · May 16, 2023 at 10:43 pm

    Sorry to hear Western and Southern Open may move to Charlotte. It was the first tournament I started going to as a junior and have been back many times over the years, so I have fond memories, even though I admit that Charlotte would actually be more convenient to me now.

    The USTA has term debt of $586MM, with the bulk of that maturing in 15-25 years, and total liabilities of $711M versus liquid assets of close to $500MM. They do not appear to be under any financial stress and they booked a $200MM+ gain on the sale…which seems remarkable to me. And not entirely consistent with what an arm’s length financial purchaser would pay for the Western and Southern Open? They used well less than half of the sales proceeds to reduce debt (the $75MM+ that wasn’t maturing for another 2 years).

    This strikes me as less of a situation of a stressed seller and more of a situation of the USTA being offered a price well over real value because the purchaser ascribes a hefty vanity value to the asset. Which is fine. Hardly uncommon in the professional sports business.

    https://www.usta.com/content/dam/usta/2023-pdfs/USTA-2022-Affiliates-Consolidated-Financial-Statements.pdf

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 17, 2023 at 7:25 am

    Bill, Cincy was always a very successful tournament, surely another pro tournament will replace it. But timing is everything and the August slot was special.

  • Bill McGill · May 17, 2023 at 3:49 pm

    From a spectator perspective, yeah, it’s a phenomenal event. They get about 160,000 people over all the course of the tournament…but from an owner perspective, it’s a lot less appealing. Tickets almost never go for premium prices. Loads of tickets are under $20. Even quite good tickets for the final are under $100. Even the big 20 person suites are ultra reasonable compared to US Open where they often go for $70,000 for the session, not even the day. Plus, USTA only sold the ATP part of the tournament, buyers didn’t get the WTA event license. It’s tough to see how the math works out at a $225MM+ price. Like I said, seems like vanity pricing. Not the way you would model the purchase price of a cement plant.

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 17, 2023 at 5:21 pm

    Bill, I’ve only heard great things about this tournament, may need to go this year before it’s gone. It’s interesting how many pros hail from Ohio – Ann Grossman, Wolf, Trabert, Peyton Stearns, Lauren Davis, etc.

  • Sam · May 17, 2023 at 6:29 pm

    Scoop, what do you expect Nadal to say at his press conference tomorrow? ๐Ÿค”

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 17, 2023 at 7:39 pm

    Sam my guess is Rafa will retire tomorrow. We all saw the sad video of him training looking dejected, like he knows he just can’t win anymore. 1-9 in his last ten matches, lost to McDonald at AO looking fine then later claims the injury for ego/image protection. He’s been training hard for months, all in for clay but he just can’t compete at the level he knows he has to. It’s a miracle he’s lasted to 37. Agassi said he’d be done at 30. Even in his last matches over the last six months of 2022 he looked ordinary. Sadly, I think one of the greatest careers in the history of sport has reached the grand finale.

  • Bill McGill · May 17, 2023 at 9:34 pm

    You should definitely go. I think it is way better than Miami. Very intimate.

  • Sam · May 18, 2023 at 12:38 am

    Scoop, so you think it’s not injury but just being washed-up? Well, you could be right. And that would certainly be a bombshell if he decides to call it a career! ๐Ÿ˜ฌ

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 18, 2023 at 7:16 am

    Yes Sam I think he’s finished and the injury illusion is to protect his ego and image. We know he’s been healthy enough to be training for over two months, we all saw some of the videos of him training – no sign of any injury. But he must have lost a fraction of timing, reflexes, quickness, anticipation, agility, and… confidence. THey’ll spin it off as the ultimate heroic warrior was fallen in the tragic end by injuries. That will be their narrative and of course the media will run with it.

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 18, 2023 at 7:18 am

    Bill, Nothing beats Newport for feeling close to the action and players.

  • Sam · May 18, 2023 at 2:40 pm

    Scoop, now that Nadal has said 2024 is probably his last season, do you really think he’d be able to produce any more decent tennis from here on out?

    And by the way, who’s your pick for Roland Garros now? ๐ŸŽฐ I’d say there’s less than a 20% chance that anyone outside the top 2 wins it.

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 18, 2023 at 5:29 pm

    Sam, I think Rafa is done. Sadly he hasn’t looked himself in over a year IMO, the losses stacked up and the last loss to McDonald at AO he looked totally shot. He looked healthy in the match, no signs of any pains or injuries, then after the loss he created the illusion of some injury. I believe he got some help winning FO last year, Ruud rolled over in the final and Novak did not bring his best intensity to that match. Enuff said. Rafa is 37 with a ton of mileage on those legs. I remember Patrick McEnroe saying Rafa was practicing for like four hours a day for Davis Cup week years ago. Finally Rafa has lost that crucial fraction of speed, timing, reflex, anticipation, and CONFIDENCE. It’s over. The only way is if great forces conspire to help him win FO 2024 at age 38. But that’s simply impossible.

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 18, 2023 at 5:31 pm

    Sam I think there’s a number of top contenders – Novak Carlos Rune Stefanos Med but I’ll go with Novak. Rybakina on the other side. but watch out for Ostapenko, Iga, Sabalenka and some dark horses like a Schiavone or Pennetta. You?

  • Sam · May 18, 2023 at 11:26 pm

    Scoop, yes, it sounds like you’re right about Nadal. No specific injury, but just the years adding up. ๐Ÿ‘ด To completely skip Roland Garros, he must feel absolutely horrible about his tennis.

    I guess you changed your mind after picking Djokovic just above? Because later in your article about Rune, you picked him too. ๐Ÿ˜ Well, ever since Djokovic got barred from his second Grand Slam last year, I haven’t followed tennis that closely, because it’s turned into such a joke. ๐Ÿคก

    Anyway, I would tend to favor Djokovic 1) because of his experience and 2) because he’s probably really hungry after what happened last year. He also knows how to play himself into shape. So, my odds would look something like this:

    1) Djokovic 45%
    2) Alcaraz 35%
    3) Others 20% (with Rune leading the brat pack)

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 19, 2023 at 7:00 am

    Sam, that makes most sense, Nadal tried to get himself ready for winning his 15th RG but he’s declined considerably since a year ago and that win seemed establishment aided. He knows he’s going to get whooped and backed out instead of giving it the old college try and rely on regaining his mojo and groove by winning one match at a time. The greatest fighter in tennis history didn’t put up a fight. Yes his game and confidence must be in shambles. I like Djokovic and Rune to win the title and yesterday I changed my mind to Rune ) Plenty of time to keep refining the prediction too ) Rune has beaten Djokovic twice in a row and he’s still improving. Very dangerous matchup for Novak if they meet at RG.

  • Sam · May 19, 2023 at 3:13 pm

    Plenty of time to keep refining the prediction too

    Scoop, I guess that’s called an “evolving” prediction. ๐Ÿคฃ

    Very dangerous matchup for Novak if they meet at RG.

    True. But if they’re on opposite halves, I don’t think Djokovic has much to worry about. Meeting Rune in the early rounds could be a lot scarier, though. ๐Ÿ˜ฌ

  • Sam · May 19, 2023 at 3:24 pm

    Oh, thought of something else. It’s not likely that Djokovic would be able to win all four slams this year. So . . . would it really be good for him to win the French Open? Or would it better for him to win, say, both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open instead??

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 19, 2023 at 7:45 pm

    Sam I actually believe Rune is so bold that he believes he has the mental edge now on Djokovic. Similar to the nice guy routine young Nadal used on Federer in the beginning, Rafa worshipped Roger but at the same time kept whooping his ass. Rune is doing that to Djokovic for the last six months and that process could keep going in Rune’s favor.

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 19, 2023 at 7:48 pm

    Sam you raise a good point, I think Djokovic is the ultimate champion, he is gunning for all of them, he is confident on all surfaces, unlike two of the other so called goats who gave up on their weaker surfaces. I don’t think Djokovic would ever do that.

  • Sam · May 20, 2023 at 6:33 pm

    Scoop, as for Rune, it’s only been two matches that he’s won against Djokovic, both of which were best-of-three. If they ever meet in a Slam and Rune underestimates Djokovic, then I think it will be to Rune’s peril. ๐Ÿ™€

    Also, I wasn’t implying that Djokovic doesn’t want to win all the Slams, just that the pressure could feel insurmountable (again) in New York should he win in both Paris and London.

    By the way, what do you think of Djokovic’s current form? Do you think he can ramp it up a few notches in Paris?

  • Scoop Malinowski · May 20, 2023 at 7:27 pm

    Sam Yes I think Djokovic is not at peak level yet and he will be in Paris. He’s not going to go all out life and death to win Rome. His form is close to what it needs to be IMO. Will it be enough, we’ll see. Rune, Carlos, Stefanos, and Medvedev will be dangerous. And then there could be a few Karatsevs and Struffs who suddenly get red hot. Rune is impressing me very much, he may be ready to shock the world. I prefer his style and personality over Carlos. More real and authentic and not afraid to rock the boat.

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