“In no case was it a gesture of cheating. It was a gesture of frustration”, assured Hugo Gaston on Tuesday in the wake of his defeat at Roland-Garros, a week after being sanctioned by the ATP for a heavy fine for “unsportsmanlike conduct”. The Frenchman had dropped a ball from his pocket on the court to replay a set point that his opponent, Borna Coric, would win in the second round of the Masters 1000 in Madrid, finally won by the Croatian 6-3, 6- 3.
Since Gaston was a repeat offender, the ATP imposed a fine of 144,000 euros on him, reduced to 72,000 euros on condition that the 22-year-old left-hander does not commit any other offense for twelve months. “A lot of people said that I wanted to cheat, which is not true,” said Gaston after his defeat in the first round at the French Open, against Slovakian Alex Molcan 6-1, 7-6 (7/4 ), 6-3.
“Things That Don’t Get Done”
“Any tennis player has gestures that he does not control, (…) in no way was it a cheating gesture. It was a gesture of 100% frustration, he assured. There had recurrences on the fact that I took fines, but never a gesture like that because these are things that do not represent me. I apologized to my opponent. The native of Toulouse, 109th in the ATP ranking, continued his mea culpa: “These are things that are not done. I also apologized to the Federation which helps me on a daily basis.”
Several French players reacted to this affair, questioned about it Porte d’Auteuil. “It’s not a gesture we want to see on the pitch. Everyone is human, (…) makes mistakes, whether in our job or in life, supported Corentin Moutet on Sunday. Unfortunately, he has a camera pointed at him on the pitch.” “His gesture, obviously it’s normal that he was punished, but at this amount, I find it very exaggerated,” he continued.
“For me, it’s ridiculous, launched Benoît Paire on Monday. There are even Challengers players, we take that from them, in this case, they stop their career for simply … when he took maybe 2,000 dollars on the tournament.” “I find it difficult to understand this system, why they are doing this. You have to do according to what you win. You cannot take more money than the player will win. Otherwise, it serves to what’s playing tennis?” Asked the 34-year-old player, known for his misbehavior on the court.