WIMBLEDON THREATEN FINES FOR DISRESPECT
WIMBLEDON chiefs will speak to the ATP and WTA about recent outbursts by players towards ball boys and girls in a bid to encourage greater respect for tournament volunteers. In light of controversial behaviour by Fernando Verdasco and Aryna Sabalenka, the commercial and media director of the All England Club insisted that a code of ethics needs to be preserved. Mick Desmond also said that Wimbledon would not be afraid to fine players — regardless of their status — if they were seen to be disrespecting ball boys and girls at the Championships. His comments come after world No 30 Verdasco was seen gesturing angrily towards a ball boy, who it appears he thought was being slow to bring over his towel. The video of the incident, which took place at the Shenzhen Open in China, went viral on social media and prompted outcry at the way helpers on the circuit are treated. It was followed a few days later by a clip of world No 11 Sabalenka from Belarus waving her water bottle in an attempt to get the attention of a ball boy and then throwing it on the floor. Desmond said: ‘There’s an etiquette. The ball boys and ball girls of Wimbledon are all volunteers. Therefore we expect any individual at Wimbledon — whether it’s a ball boy or whether it’s a player or a cleaner — to have mutual respect for each other.’ Speaking at the Leaders Sport Business Summit, he added: ‘We’ll talk to the ATP and WTA about behaviour. I think — and we don’t say it because we think it happens naturally — there is a code of ethics at Wimbledon. There is more respect shown because I think there’s a sense there’s an expectation of that.’ Meanwhile, British No 1 Kyle Edmund made it through to the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Andreas Seppi of Italy.