Hong Kong tennis badboy Melvin Tong Man-chung faces a possible ban from the South China Athletic Association/Coca-Cola Open following his violent outburst in Saturday's semi-finals at King's Park.
Tong twice hit a linesman and screamed 'Bitch!' at a female umpire as he crashed out of the men's singles to Michael Brown, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Tournament director David Ho said Tong would be dealt with 'accordingly', adding: 'Action will definitely be taken against him.
'We will wait for the umpire's report. A meeting will be convened to decide what action should be taken. It is up to the Hong Kong Tennis Association to decide what should be done. His prize money [$4,000] could also be withheld.' Organisers were shocked that Tong peppered a linesman and the fence around the court with a series of wild serves.
And the controversy spilled over into the stands with officials forced to step in as a row between Tong's brother and other spectators threatened to boil over.
Tong defended his action, saying he didn't mean to scream 'bitch' directly at the female umpire and that he didn't deliberately serve at the linesman. 'I struck my serves wide. I didn't mean to hit anybody. The female umpire was far away when I said that. I didn't intend to offend her,' said Tong.
It's not the first time that Tong, a Hong Kong Davis Cup player, has been embroiled in controversy.
