Tursunov thrown out of tournament

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June 18, 2008 16:55 IST

Russia's Dmitry Tursunov got on the wrong side of tournament officials once again as he stormed out of a doubles match after disagreeing with a line call at the Nottingham Open on Wednesday.

"After reviewing the situation, the ATP supervisor has withdrawn Tursunov from the tournament," said an ATP statement.

The Russian was scheduled to play Sweden's Thomas Johansson in the singles second round but will not take further part in the tournament.

Tursunov, 25, and partner Chris Haggard of South Africa were trailing Italy's Simone Bolelli and Andreas Seppi 6-4, 3-1 when he quit the match. It is not the first time that he has got into trouble with organisers.

At the 2006 Wimbledon, he was fined £4,000 ($7,500) for calling umpire Fergus Murphy an 'idiot'.

After losing his serve and going 7-8 down in the final set, Tursunov was docked a point at the start of the last game for hitting a ball at the umpire's chair. Murphy had said that Tursunov had hit the ball towards him intentionally and "all the pro players know exactly where they are hitting".

Tursunov, who, it appears, has the gift of gab, countered saying, "If I knew exactly where I was hitting the ball I would've hit him, not the bottom of the chair."

Promptly, he was handed two fines for "unsportsmanlike conduct".

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