VIDEO. Mike Bryan fined $10,000 for pretending to shoot a lines judge after an incorrect call

Mike Bryan fined for his actions on court

By
Avinash Verma
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The ESPN reported that the U.S. Tennis Association slapped a fine of ten thousand dollars on Mike Bryan, According to USTA’s spokesman Brendan McIntyre, the gesture indeed warranted the amount.

Why Mike Bryan was fined by the US tennis association?

The Bryan Brothers were in action against Roberto Carballés Baena and Federico Delbonis when Mike was initially handed a code violation by Mariana Alves for the unsportsmanlike conduct during the second-round. 

Before that, Bryan was not happy after linesman called a lob in from Delbonis. However, he successfully challenged the decision, and later the Hawkeye proved that the ball had narrowly landed beyond the baseline.

Angry with the linesman’s call, he turned the racket upside down, held it just like a shooting gun and pretended a fake shooting. Mike mimicking rifle with the racket and aiming towards the line judge came hours after a man shot at people, killing seven and injuring twenty-two. It was the 25th mass killing that happened in the U.S. soil this year.

Mike went on to point his finger towards the linesman and chair umpire Mariana Alves and right after he was hit with violation Bryan went up to him and asked: “Just tell me what I did real quick? What was the gesture?”, to which Alves replied: “The gesture that you did, you did it to the line umpire and did it to me. You did with your racquet like it was a gun and I don’t think that was appropriate.”

The fine and the apology

The officials of the US Open came hard on Mike and thus handed him a hefty fine.

Bryan begged pardon later and immediately issued an apology and in a statement to the New York Times said that: “I apologize for any offense I may have caused, we won the point and the gesture was meant to be playful.”

Expressing regret, Mike further added: “But given the recent news and political climate, I understand how my gesture could be viewed as insensitive. I promise that I will never do anything like this again.”