Controversy strikes the ATP

Fourth ranked Nikolay Davydenko was criticized by a chair umpire for his terrible swing during the third round of the Paris Masters. Davydenko was given pointers by ump Cedric Mourier who told him to,

"Serve like me. If you serve like me, you put it in the box. That's it." (source)

But if Mourier’s comments weren’t enough give the Russian a little push, the crowd tried in the form of boos, cries to “go home, you Russian cheater” and signs saying “watch out, because the KGB is on your tail.”

Davydenko, who was fined $2,000 by the ATP for not trying hard enough during the St. Petersburg Open, blamed his poor play on an injured elbow. He told reporters,

"I cannot serve. That was happening in St. Petersburg. I don't have pain really.
I have no pain in my elbow. I need to find what's the reason I cannot really
serve..." (source)

“And I promise it’s not because I’m 'fixing games'. What does that even mean? I just have this elbow problem, maybe it’s fatigue from counting all that money that that man I meet sometimes in a dark alley gave me. He only gives me money in 1s and 5s so it takes a while to count. He calls it my math lesson. And I’m not blowing games, you can’t blow a game unless you show up," referring to his withdrawal from a match in Poland.

The ATP is in the midst of a massive match-fixing investigation. And you thought you had it bad David Stern. At least you problem was with a referee, the ATP has to deal with its actual players!

It's been fun blogging with you,
Kate