I'll pay Rusedski's fine, says 'out' spectator

The man whose “out” call led Greg Rusedski to launch a foul-mouthed tirade on his way to an early exit at Wimbledon was today waiting to hear whether the British number two will take him up on his offer to pay his fine.

Rusedski has apologised for the incident during the defeat by Andy Roddick on Wednesday and was yesterday fined £1,500 (€2,200).

Accountant Evaldas Zilionis, 29, told BBC Radio 5 Live: “If Greg calls me, I will pay his fine.”

The Lithuanian has apologised for his call, which caused confusion and lost Rusedski a crucial point – but he also said he had visited other Grand Slam competitions where he had also tried and succeeded in putting off players.

On BBC News 24 he said he regretted what he had done, describing it as “the biggest cock-up” he had ever been responsible for.

“As soon as I said it the crowd started saying ‘what have you done?’.

“I feel I let him (Rusedski) down so badly. I tried to help him.”

He said he would now “cry in shame” and promised never to return to SW19.

“I will just shout at my TV set,” said Mr Zilionis, of Kingston, Surrey, who was wearing a Manchester United shirt when interviewed.

Mr Zilionis, who arrived in England 10 years ago, described himself as an avid tennis fan.

It was 5-2 in the third set when Rusedski ignored a shot played by Roddick after hearing a cry of “out” – thinking it was the umpire.

Despite Rusedski’s remonstrations with umpire Lars Graff the point was awarded to the American, much to the fury of Rusedski, whose temper boiled over.

Marching back to his seat he threw his racket down before fuming: “I can’t do anything if the f--king crowd calls it.

“Some w----- in the crowd has changed the match and you allowed it to happen. Well done, well done, well done. It’s absolutely s---.”

Rusedski later said he was sorry for the language he had used.

The BBC said it spent six hours running through tapes of the match to confirm that Mr Zilionis was the guilty fan and even used voice recognition procedures.

Mr Zilionis told 5 Live: “Words cannot describe how I feel. I’m unbelievably guilty. It’s just stupid. I won’t do it again.”