A BRITISH tennis ace has been fined more than £9,000 for “verbally abusing staff” in an explosive training row at Wimbledon.
Doubles sensation Henry Patten, 29, was handed the highest penalty of the Championships so far for allegedly kicking off when his practice session was cut short BEFORE the tournament began.
Henry Patten, right, won the Wimbledon doubles title in 2024 but he was handed a big fine before this year’s Championships[/caption]
The left-hander – who won last year’s doubles title at SW19 – is appealing the sanction.
He said he is “disappointed” in the All England Club for disclosing the fines but not his denial.
He said: “I do not believe that there has been a full or proper investigation, nor has Wimbledon acted reasonably or fairly with due process.
“I am disappointed that as the defending male’s doubles champion that I am having to address this matter at this point rather than concentrating on playing tennis.”
The Australian Open winner, 29, who sailed through to the quarter final alongside Finland’s Harri Heliovaara after a walkover on Monday, refused to comment on the nature of the incident.
He is one of 12 players slapped with a total of £37,000 worth of fines in SW19 so far this year.
French star Theo Arribage, 24, has been ordered to pay over £5,500 for “unsportsmanlike conduct” in his second-round doubles clash.
World No123 Adrian Mannarino, 37, landed himself a £4,400 penalty and Russian-born Elena Pridankina, 19, has been charged £3,600 for the same offence.
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Belgium player Zizou Bergs, 26, and American Hailey Baptiste, 23, will both have to cough up £2,900 after being punished for “audible obscenities”, while French ace Varvara Gracheva, 24, was handed the same fine for “abuse of racquets or equipment”.
The biggest Wimbledon penalty on record was in 2019 when Bernard Tomic had his full prize money of £45,000 taken away for failing to meet the “required professional standard” during his 58-minute first-round defeat by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.
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The dismal match – the shortest at SW19 in 15 years – was slammed as “embarrassing”.
And ex-doubles star Jeff Tarango was famously given an £11,000 fine after a fiery spat in 1995 which saw him accuse the umpire of being corrupt and tell the crowd to “shut up” when they jeered him.
His wife then stormed a press conference to reveal she’d slapped the match official in the face.
Following an investigation, the Grand Slam Committee fined the ace an additional £21,000 and banned him from two tournaments.
The AELTC has been approached for comment.
