Player fined $10,000 for making shooting gesture with racket at U.S. Open
American tennis player Mike Bryan was fined for a gesture he made with his racket during the U.S. Open on Sunday. Bryan, who plays doubles with his brother, Bob Bryan, turned his racket upside down, held it like a rifle and pretended to shoot. The target? A line judge, according to ESPN.
Bryan made the gun gesture after the official made a call that replays later showed was wrong during the doubles match against Roberto Carballes Baena of Spain and Federico Delbonis of Argentina, ESPN reports.
Bryan's fake gun firing was caught on camera and he was ultimately fined $10,000 — the highest fine given to a male player during this year's U.S. Open.
Mike Bryan (🎥@Eurosport_RU ) pic.twitter.com/vPwOiZfVqf
— doublefault28 (@doublefault28) September 1, 2019
In a statement to the New York Times, Bryan apologized for any offense he may have caused. "We won the point and the gesture was meant to be playful. 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."
Just a day before the match, a gunman in Odessa, Texas, went on a shooting rampage, leaving seven people dead and 22 injured. It was the second mass shooting in Texas in a month.
Bryan's gun motion constituted unsportsmanlike conduct, an umpire decided on Sunday. U.S. Tennis Association Spokesman Brendan McIntyre said the association thought Bryan's gun gesture warranted the $10,000 fine. CBS News has reached out to Bryan and the U.S. Tennis Association and the U.S. Open for comment.