American tennis player Mike Bryan has received a $10,000 (£8,300) fine for making a shooting gesture with his racket towards a linesperson.
Bryan reacted poorly to a bad call while teaming up with brother Bob against Roberto Carballes Baena and Federico Delbonis in the second round of the US Open men’s doubles.
At the end of the second set, trailing 1-0, but up 6-5 in the set, the Bryans challenged after a lob was called in, with Hawk-eye showing the ball was clearly long.
Bryan then made the gesture, as well as pointing at both the linesperson and the umpire, Mariana Alves, who issued a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct.
It comes just a day after a gunman in Odessa, Texas went on a shooting rampage, with seven people killed and 22 injured in the second mass shooting in the state in a month.
“What did I do? Just tell me what I did, real quick,” Mike Bryan pleaded in response to being handed the code violation.
With Alves responding: “You made a gesture. I don’t think that is appropriate.”
After US Tennis Association spokesman Brendan McIntyre declared the lofty fine was warranted due to the seriousness of the gesture, Bryan repleased a statement to apologise.
He said: “I apologise for any offense I may have caused. We won the point and the gesture was meant to be playful.
“But given the recent news and political climate I understand how my gesture could be viewed as insensitive. I promise that I will never do anything like this again.”
The Bryan brothers would eventually prevail in the match 4-6, 7-5, 6-3.
