Justin Gimelstob,  ATP board member and commentator, pleaded no contest in a Los Angeles court on Monday to a felony battery charge for his part in a fight on Halloween night last year.

The judge reduced the charge to a misdemeanor and sentenced Gimelstob to three years’ probation and 60 days of community labor.  So basically, Gimelstob is not going to jail and is free to continue to his tennis career despite his despicable behavior.

Randall Kaplan, a venture capital and former friend of Gimelstob’s, accused him of attacking from behind while Kaplan’s wife, Madison and 2-year old were trick or treating on Halloween night. Kaplan said Gimelstob hit him on the head more about 100 times.  Madison Kaplan suffered a miscarriage two weeks later which she attributed to the trauma of seeing her husband beaten in front of their daughter.

Gimelstob’s lawyer, Michael Kump, said in a statement that Gimelstob, who also will be required to take an anger management course, had pleaded no contest to “move on with his professional life and focus on his family.”

Gimelstob will likely face a civil trial.  Even if he loses the civil trial, he will pay monetary damages on move on.

I fully expect Gimelstob to continue on the ATP board and continue to work for the Tennis Channel as a commentator.  He is well connected in tennis circles.  This incident is just a minor blip and and he will move on with his career.

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Fabio Fognini of Italy won the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters, defeating Dusan Lajovic 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 38 minutes.  Following up on his fabulous victory over Rafael Nadal in the semis, Fognini converted four of his five break points against Lajovic to win the title.

Fognini also became the first Italian to win an ATP Masters 1000 title.  He will move to a career high ranking of 12 in the new ATP rankings. Fognini also became the lowest seeded player to win the trophy since Gustavo Keurten in 1999.

“I’m really, really happy. Nothing to say,” Fognini said. “I have to keep calm, maybe take a shower, relax, and think about this because it’s something incredible.”

It wasn’t an easy week for Fognini though.  The 31-year-old recovered from 4-6, 1-4 down in his first-round match against Russian qualifier Andrey Rublev.  He also overcame a 1-6, 0-2 deficit against Borna Coric in the quarter-finals.

But Fognini was impressive in his win over Rafael Nadal in the semi final winning 6-4, 6-2.  Nadal was almost bageled in the second set, a feat that has not happened since 2007.  The 11-time champion struggled throughout the match, leaving the ball short and allowing his opponent to hit winners on the slow surface.