The ATP’s investigation of Michael Llodra’s alleged racial insults of fans at the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells is still ongoing, TENNIS.com has learned.
After the original investigation of the incident, the ATP fined Llodra $2,500, but apparently that fine could go higher, or other measures could be taken.
Tennis fans Daniel Lee and Alex Lee Barlow stated that Llodra got off too lightly for allegedly throwing racial taunts their way during his win over Ernests Gulbis. ??Canadian journalist Tom Tebbutt, who was at the match, reported that Llodra hit a ball out of court, threw his racket, and called Alex Lee Barlow a "f--king Chinese."??
Daniel Lee told TENNIS.com in an email that he thought the ATP should come down harder on Llodra.??
"I definitely don't think $2,500 is enough,” said Lee. "It's just a slap on the wrist. One thing that isn't being stressed enough is that we were paying spectators—tennis fans—essentially giving him, a professional, money to watch him play. And in exchange for that, we were abused. It is entirely a different situation than a player abusing a line judge or an official, or a spectator abusing a fellow spectator. The last thing any tennis fan expects sitting down to watch the sport they love so much and have paid to see is for a player to target them with racial slurs. Another piece of information that is being misrepresented is that we are not Chinese! We are Americans of Korean decent…I'm not giving up on tennis or on Indian Wells but I believe that ATP should issue a formal statement condemning Llodra's actions and levy harsher penalties than what amounts to a token fine."
Llodra did speak to the Chinese news site SINA.com, saying: "My words were not aimed at China," Llodra began. "I love Chinese—I can totally make love with a Chinese girl."
Llodra also did try and explain his actions on his web site, saying "Above all I am of course not racist…and I really want to apologize for any hurt the Chinese community."—Matt Cronin