Christian Harrison fined for not agreeing to wear a mask

Christian Harrison (Google Images)

According to Reuters Media on Tuesday, American tennis player Christian Harrison of Shreveport, Louisiana was fined $3000 for refusing to be interviewed following his match this past week in Delray Beach, Florida, because he was required to wear a mask. On-court interviews after matches are mandatory for players.

Harrison, who is the younger brother of fellow American tennis player Ryan Harrison, has voiced his displeasure of wearing masks on Instagram. According to Andrew Bucholtz of Awful Announcing, Christian Harrison went on Instagram and stated, “Been feeling great. Working hard. Healthy enough to play three-hour matches. But I’m an absolute safety hazard walking maskless through a restaurant.” Harrison also stated, “It’s not healthy to wear a mask in the hot sun for more time than absolutely necessary after a tough match.”

The mask incident overshadowed Christian Harrison’s fine play in Delray Beach this past weekend. Harrison refused to be interviewed with a mask on following his second round upset win over Chile’s Cristian Garin. Harrison, who won the match 7-6, 6-2, was ranked 789th in the world, while Garin was ranked 1st in the tournament, and 22nd overall.

Garin, along with second-ranked John Isner of the United States, were unable to reach the final four of the tournament in Delray Beach. Isner lost in the quarterfinals to fellow American Sebastian Korda in the quarterfinals, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3.

The fact that players such as Christian Harrison are not taking mask-wearing seriously is starting to concern Australians, with the Australian Open starting next month in Melbourne. Expect to see greater fines than $3000 in Australia, if players do not follow guidelines.

In addition to a strong singles tournament in Delray Beach, Christian and Ryan Harrison reached the final in men’s doubles. There they lost 6-7, 7-6, 10-4 in a super tiebreak to Ariel Behar of Uruguay, and Gonzalo Escobar of Ecuador.

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