David Nalbandian was disqualified from the Aegon Championship final after injuring a line judge by kicking an advertising board onto his shin and could now be charged with assault after police confirmed the Argentine was being investigated.
Having taken the first set against Marin Cilic at the Queen's club, the traditional warm-up event to Wimbledon, Nalbandian took out his frustration on an advertising hoarding after losing serve in the seventh game of the second set. However, to the horror of the Argentine, the board fell onto line judge Andrew McDougall, causing his leg to bleed heavily.
Chair umpire Fergus Murphy awarded the match to Cilic, disqualifying Nalbandian for unsportsmanlike conduct, leading to the crowd booing the decision. Tournament supervisor Tom Barnes said: "It is unsportsmanlike conduct, and the supervisor has the authority to declare an immediate default.
"Once I saw that the line judge was injured, I didn't have any other option."
Tournament official Chris Kermode added: "It is obviously not the way that we wanted to finish the final and I can understand the crowd's frustration.
"But the tournament is governed by ATP rules and this was a clear-cut case."
The incident cost Nalbandian his runners-up prize money of 36, 114 pounds ($56,758), and could yet face a further fine.
"I know that I made a mistake, 100%," Nalbandian said. "If I have to pay for what I did, it's perfect, I agree. I made a mistake and I apologise and I feel very sorry for the guy. I didn't want to do that.
"But sometimes you get angry. Sometimes you cannot control that moments that many time happens. Well, to me. Maybe you throw a racket or maybe you scream or maybe you do something like that. So many things happen at that kind of moment.
"It's a tough moment to end a final like that but sometimes we feel so much pressure from the ATP playing so many tournaments."
Nalbandian went on to blame the ATP. "You have to sign that you agree with everything that the ATP says. And sometimes you don't. And if you don't want to sign, you cannot play ATP tournaments.
"So you don't have the chance to ask or change anything. Sometimes the ATP puts a lot of pressure on the players and sometimes you get injured because you play on a dangerous surface and nothing happens."
Cilic, who picked up the seventh title of his career, was left bemused by the bizarre situation. "It was very bitter," Cilic told the BBC.
"It's definitely not the way I wanted to win. To end like this is not easy.
"The match was getting hot and it's tough to see the final finish like this. I can't change it, but I'm really sorry for the fans that it finished like this."
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard said they were investigating a complaint of alleged assault. A spokesman with the Scotland Yard said: "We are aware of an incident at the AEGON Championships on June 17.
"A complaint has been made and the Metropolitan Police Service is now investigating.
"The allegation is of assault."
In the week's other grass court event in Halle, Germany, 34-year-old Tommy Haas stunned favorite Roger Federer 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 in the final.
