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Benoit Paire thought the ATP made "a ridiculous call" in deciding to fine Hugo Gaston €144,000. During a Madrid Masters second-round match against Borna Coric, Gaston threw a ball out of his pocket with the intention of stopping the point and having it repeated.
The ATP then fined Gaston €144,000 and revealed that it was the Frenchman's fourth misconduct of that nature in 2023. Gaston appealed the decision and the ATP halved the fine under the condition that the Frenchman doesn't do the same in the next 12 months.
Gaston, ranked at No 109 in the world, has earned $121,712 in tournament prize money so far in 2023.
Paire hits out of ATP's 'ridiculous' fine of Gaston
“It's ridiculous that Hugo Gaston has been fined 144,000. It was reduced 72,000, but challengers will just stop their career in that case.
Maybe he took 2,000 in the tournament, and in Madrid he took a bit more money. But he won $16,000, and he has to pay $142,000. I don't understand the system. I think that you need to do things according to what you earn. You can't ask for more money than what the player is going to earn.
Otherwise, why play tennis?” Paire said, via Express-Sport. Paire, who is no stranger to being fined by the ATP, suggests handing out hefty fines to Challenger-level player is not something the ATP should be doing. “Everything that he has won in prize money since the beginning of the year is below his fine.
So, yes, what he did is not good, but sometimes in matches you have bad reactions. I think that it's silly, and it's a shame to put such big fines. So I'm lucky because this year I haven't had a lot of warnings. Normally I have more, and it would have cost me a lot. I have to be careful. I'm a Challenger now, so I'm careful," Paire added.