Tour Levies Heavy Fines on Edberg, Lendl, Agassi for Failure to Play

Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl and Andre Agassi were fined substantial amounts by the ATP Tour today for failing to play in the required number of tournaments this year.

Edberg, the world’s top-ranked player, was fined a minimum of $115,496. Lendl, ranked third, was fined a minimum $95,443 and the fifth-ranked Agassi was fined a minimum of $85,042.

Greg Sharko, an ATP Tour spokesman, said the amount of the fines would increase proportionally to include any income the players earn during the rest of the year.

“This is more than a financial penalty. I see this as an expression of commitment to play the ATP Tour World Championship,” ATP Tour Chief Executive Officer Mark Miles said in a statement.

Edberg and Agassi were required to play in 11 tournaments. Lendl, because he is a 10-year veteran, was required to play one less.

All three are now two tournaments short and the Paris tournament next week, in which they all are scheduled to play, is the final event before the season-ending ATP Tour World Championship at Frankfurt, Germany, from Nov. 13 to 18.

Sharko said the ATP Tour rules require a player be fined 10% of his income for each tournament he misses. Income from Grand Slam events are not included in the fines.