NEW YORK -- Fabio Fognini did himself no favors when he was fined and suspended for verbally abusing an umpire at the US Open, an outburst in Italian that cost him his place in the men's doubles event. He and partner Simone Bolelli were removed from the draw Saturday despite having won their first two matches.
There can be no excuse for the words Fognini chose, and the Italian will now face a huge fine -- up to $250,000 -- to add to the $24,000 he already has been docked for unsportsmanlike conduct during his first-round singles loss Wednesday.
But perhaps the incident has a silver lining -- although not for Fognini, who now faces the possibility of a permanent ban from Grand Slam events. While bad conduct of ATP and WTA players is not to be condoned, the behavior of the likes of Fognini actually benefits the tours, in one way at least.
All fines received at the Grand Slam events go to the Grand Slam Development Fund, which encourages the development of tennis in emerging countries all over the world.
Administered by the International Tennis Federation, the fund helps establish junior and professional circuits in countries that don't have the financial means to do it themselves. Since 1989, the Grand Slam Development Fund has received more than $45 million in donations from the four Grand Slams.
"Ironically, to me at least, it means that those players over the years who regularly incurred misconduct financial penalties at Grand Slams were financially contributing to the global development of tennis in the emerging tennis countries," Bill Babcock, director of the Grand Slam Committee, said in an email.
Fognini already holds the record for a fine at Wimbledon, slapped with a $27,500 charge in 2014. Australia's Nick Kyrgios also has added a significant amount to the fund this year, with fines of $7,300 at the Australian Open, $6,000 at the French Open and $5,500 this week at the US Open after smashing his racket and using an audible obscenity.
While these types of fines won't make too much of a dent on most players' annual earnings, they are at least put to good use.
"It is definitely an unsung, positive story that ensures the Grand Slams have no conflict or self-interest when dispensing financial penalties for misconduct," Babcock said.
Babcock said the Grand Slam Board had budgeted for about $150,000 from fines in 2017, but the final figure is assured of being a lot higher.
A total of $59,700 in fines was assessed at this year's Australian Open. The French Open yielded $53,900, and there were $89,400 in penalties at Wimbledon, for a total of $203,000 heading into the US Open. At the 2016 Grand Slams, a total of $267,650 was collected.
Players can be fined for a variety of reasons, including illegal coaching, racket abuse, verbal abuse, audible obscenities and unsportsmanlike conduct.
The ATP Tour also uses player fines to help maintain a player benevolent fund that offers financial assistance to "player members or former members who have a catastrophic illness for the member or his immediate family," according to ATP spokesman Simon Higson.
"The way it works is that the fund is maintained so that there are $100,000 reserves in the fund," Higson said. "If we determine that we should allocate resources for a specific cause that takes us below that number, we cover that, and then any incoming money from player fines is used to take us back to the $100,000 in reserves."
The situation on the WTA Tour is less clear, with all fines ending up in the operations budget, which services players and tournaments.
"We have, under exceptional circumstances, donated fine money to a charity of choice," a WTA spokesperson said.