( CNN ) -- David Nalbandian was disqualified in the ATP Queen 's Club final Sunday for angrily kicking down an advertising board and injuring a court side official . The Argentinian was leading Croatia 's Marin Cilic by a set and trailed 3-4 in the second , having just dropped his service , when the incident occurred . A Cilic serve to his forehand saw Nalbandian unable to return and he took out his frustration on the board , which was just in front of line judge Andrew McDougall . The force of Nalbandian 's kick left McDougall with a nasty gash to his leg and he stood up to protest to the player . Umpire Fergus Murphy halted play before ATP supervisor Tom Barnes came onto the court to speak to him and the 30-year-old Nalbandian , who was officially defaulted for `` unsportsmanlike behavior . '' He later returned to apologize for his actions to the 6,000 capacity crowd at the club in London . `` I am sorry to do that . Sometimes we get very frustrated here on court . It is tough to control , '' he said . `` It is a mistake . It is a tough moment to end a final like that . Sometimes we feel the pressure from the ATP . It is a mistake and I have to pay for that . Everybody makes mistakes . '' A subdued Cilic was handed the tournament trophy , the first ATP title for the 23-year-old since winning in St Petersburg in October last year . Federer shocked by Haas in Halle final . `` It was very bitter . It 's definitely not the way I wanted to win , '' Cilic said . `` I ca n't change it , but I 'm really sorry for the fans that it finished like this . '' Tournament director Chris Kermode told BBC Sport that officials had been left with no other option than to default Nalbandian . `` David is struggling to come to terms with it . He clearly regrets what happened -- but these things happen . `` Queen 's is sold out and the spectators are watching some great tennis , so to have the match end this way is quite disappointing . `` But there 's not a lot we can do about it . We are under the governance of ATP rules . '' Kermode added that McDougall had been taken to the tournament 's medical center to have attention for his injured leg . An ATP official later told CNN that in their records dating back to 1980 they could not find another instance of a player being disqualified in an ATP final for a similar offense than committed by Nalbandian .
David Nalbandian disqualified in Queen 's Club final . Argentine star injured line judge after kicking over an advertising hoarding . Andrew McDougall left with a gashed leg in incident . Croatia 's Marin Cilic awarded the match and title .