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‘It’s a joke’ – American ace slams US Open over curious fine


A home favourite at the US Open was handed an odd fine in a second round match, which has since been ridiculed by the pro.

Reilly Opelka breezed past Lorenzo Musetti in the second round in New York, requiring no more than straight sets to claim victory.

But the towering American later received a fine from the USTA due to an occurrence in said match, but not for anything that happened during play.

Opelka had apparently breached rules regarding marketing logos on apparel and equipment, carrying an ‘unapproved’ pink tote bag onto court with the tag for an art gallery bigger than the allowable limit.

The 22nd seed has since received a fine of $10,000 which he has roundly mocked.

“I mean, what a joke on the US Open to do that,” Opelka expressed after beating Nikoloz Basilashvili in the third round. “10K for a pink bag? Come on.

“We had that logo specifically made. We measured. It is too big. It was not the same bag I was using at the French Open. We made the effort to make it smaller.

“But, yeah, I made the effort. The referee told me that it was too big and that was it. She said to cover one side of it.

“I didn’t even find out from them, which is even more comical.”

Opelka apparently found out about the fine from a reporter rather than the USTA directly.

“I thought it was a bit harsh, a bit excessive. My job is not to measure logos. My job is to win matches. I have bigger things to worry about.”

Opelka proceeded to mock the fine further by seemingly writing ‘unapproved’ across the bag, visible when he walked out for the clash with Basilashvili.

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