WIMBLEDON 2001: Hanescu fined $15,000 by All England Club

VICTOR Hanescu has been fined $15,000 after he controversially walked off his match with Daniel Brands at Wimbledon.

FINED: Victor Hansecu has been fined $15,000 for his behaviour during a third round match with Daniel Brands at Wimbledon (Getty Images)

Hanescu's third round exit means he should leave the All England Club with £31,250 but referee Andrew Jarrett has deducted $7,500 (£4,979) for unsportsmanlike conduct and the same sum for failing to show sufficient effort in a match.

The Romanian, seeded 31 for the tournament, has yet to speak about the reasons behind his decision to storm off Court 18 last night.

He appeared to spit in the direction of some spectators and fired down a succession of deliberate faults before conceding the match when 0-3 down in the final set.

Some watching fans claimed Hanescu, who received treatment for a hamstring problem during the fourth set, was fuming that a small number of spectators had accused him of faking the injury, others believe he was angry the match had not been called off due to fading light.

Police later moved in, making four arrests under section five of the Public Order Act but the All England Club have insisted that the arrests and the spitting incident were not linked.

"Following a review conducted by the Championships referee in association with the grand slam supervisors into the incident on Court 18 yesterday evening, the player, Victor Hanescu, has been fined $7,500 for unsportsmanlike conduct and a further $7,500 for not using best efforts at the conclusion of the match," said Jarrett, in a statement released by the All England Club.

"No further comment will be made by the referee or the chair umpire."

Hanescu's fine doesn't stand with comparison to the $175,000 (£116,000) Serena Williams was forced to pay, after a foul-mouthed rant at a lineswoman during last year's US Open.

But the defending champion admitted she had some sympathy for Hanescu's plight.

"Sometimes you lose your cool - I have experience of that," she said, following her win over Slovakia's Dominika Cibulkova.