Jack Draper avoids massive Wimbledon fine by exploiting cheeky loophole after breaking protocol on court
JACK DRAPER has avoided being slapped with a Wimbledon fine after smacking his bag with his racquet.
The British No1, 22, endured a disappointing campaign at this year’s Championships.
Draper went in with high expectations having beaten Carlos Alcaraz at Queen’s.
But after scraping past Elias Ymer in five sets in round one, he fell in straights to compatriot Cameron Norrie.
During the Centre Court match with Ymer, Draper’s frustrations threatened to boil over.
At one point he smacked his bag with his racquet… but avoided striking the precious Wimbledon grass.
Had he done so, he would have received a hefty fine.
With Wimbledon’s playing surface delicately maintained, any player that damages it is liable to punishment.
At the time, BBC presenter Clare Balding explained the situation.
She said: “Well there’s no doubt Draper has plenty of that, smashing the racquet there onto his bag, which is quite sensible because you get fined if you damage the grass.
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“If you damage yourself or damage your own kit then that is – albeit I guess it can be painful – not going to earn you a fine.”
Six male players have so far been slapped with fines.
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Denis Yevseyev and Alexander Ritschard have been docked $2,000 (£1,560).
Terence Atmane, Tristan Boyer, Gustavo Heide and Thiago Seyboth Wild were all hit with $4,000 (£3,120) penalties.
Andrey Rublev distressed fans by whacking himself repeatedly with his own racquet during his round one defeat to Francisco Comesana.
After the match, the Russian explained: “I would not do it if I was able to hit the racquet on the floor.
“Because we’re not allowed to hit them with the grass. I don’t know why in that moment, I couldn’t take it any more. I needed to let emotions out.
“But thanks, everything is fine. Again, I was a bit lucky.”
Wimbledon 2024 prize money
PRIZE MONEY for the 2024 Wimbledon Championships is a new record – and puts the grass-court Slam at the top of the tree.
The All England Club will dish out £50million across all the events – an increase of £5.3m and 11.9 per cent on last year, where singles champions Carlos Alcaraz and Marketa Vondrousova picked up £2.35m each.
However, the king and queen of grass this July will collect an extra £350,000 – taking the winner’s earnings to £2.7m.
Here is the breakdown for the 2024 Wimbledon singles prize money:
- Winner: £2.7m
- Runner-up: £1.4m
- Semi-finalists: £715,000
- Quarter-finalists: £375,000
- Fourth round: £226,000
- Third round: £143,000
- Second round: £93,000
- First round: £60,000
- Overall total: £50m