Andre Agassi paid the price for a torrent of obscene remarks that ended with him being thrown out of the Sybase Open in San Jose, California on Wednesday night.
The American was leading by a set and appeared on his way to an easy victory over qualifier Cecil Mamiit when, trailing in a tie-break, he began swearing. Agassi was warned but then made another comment to linesman Al Klassen and was penalised a point.
As Klassen returned to his chair a second time Agassi repeated his previous obscenity and ATP tour supervisor Tom Barnes was called to the court. He conferred with umpire Steve Ulrich, who then defaulted Agassi and awarded the second-round match to Mamiit.
He could now face a fine, a loss of ranking points and a loss of the prize money he has earned in San Jose.
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