There have already been many dramatic moments at this year’s US Open in both the men’s and women’s draws.
Perhaps none other than the controversial dispute between Jelena Ostapenko and Taylor Townsend, which has drawn a lot of attention from within the tennis world and beyond.
While there was no controversy as such in this match, Coco Gauff’s emotional second round win was certainly dramatic.
However, Sam Querrey has revealed that he believes an ATP player should have received a huge fine for what he did in the first round of the tournament.
Photo by Elsa/Getty ImagesSam Querrey believes Daniil Medvedev should have been fined $100,000 for his behaviour at the US Open
Daniil Medvedev has only won one Grand Slam match this year, highlighted by his first round defeat at the US Open to Benjamin Bonzi.
That match was the centre of drama, with a US Open photographer at the centre of the controversy.
Medvedev has received a lot of criticism for how he handled this, shouting at the umpire and breaking his rackets after the match.
As a result, the former world number one has been fined $42,500, $30,000 for unsportsmanlike conduct and $12,500 for racket abuse.
Despite this being a significant punishment, former Wimbledon semifinalist Querrey believes that he should have received a $100,000 fine instead.
“I thought it was light. I thought he should have been fined $100,000 honestly,” Querrey said on the Nothing Major podcast.
Steve Johnson responded, “As the fine expert of the group here, he should have been fined more probably. I am guessing there is some escalators, because it’s happened before, it’s not the first time he has done these kind of things.
“But that is still half of a first round prize money. Even to Medvedev that has to sting a little bit. You are walking home, half the money, not a great year so far. It is likely that he will continue to get fined, with the way he winds up the crowd a bit.”
Which player has received the biggest fine in tennis history?
Although Medvedev has been docked almost 40% of his first round prize money at the US Open, it is nowhere near the amount the biggest fine in history.
There have been three players who have been fined over $100,000 in history, and Novak Djokovic tops that list.
At the US Open in 2020, Djokovic was the top seed and the favourite for the title.
However, in his fourth round match against Pablo Carreno Busta, Djokovic invertedly hit the ball at one of the line judges.
As a result, Djokovic was docked all of his prize money ($250,000) for reaching the fourth round, as well as a further $10,000 for the violation and $7,500 for missing his post-match press conference.
This totals up to $267,500, which is nearly $150,000 greater than the second biggest fine received by Frances Tiafoe at the Shanghai Masters last year.