W
williams planet
Guest
Most Shocking Moments in Tennis
(archive article)
The 23 Most SHOCKING moments in tennis ( (#23 to #11)
23. Wimbledon bombed, 1940. During WWII, **** launched its Blitz upon London. Oct 11, 1940, a bomb landed on centre court, no one’s hurt.
22. First ever Wimbledon streaker, 1996. A 23 yrs old female student who was working in the Tournament leapt into Centre court wearing only a maid’s pinny, which she graciously lifted for all the world to see. The finalists that day were Mal Washington and Krajicek.
21. Ivanisevic’s Wildcard win, 2001. (well, you know the story). Ivanisevic was as shocked as the rest of us.
20. Transsexual at USO, 1977. Dr Renee Richards, 42 years of age, lost to Virginia Wade. Richard Raskind, the former-self of Dr. Richards, competed as a man at the tournament in 1960. She was banned from WTA tourneys after being discovered as a transsexual. But the court ruled that would be infringing her human right, she was permitted to compete in WTA events within US and achieved a career high ranking of 26.
19. Player threatened with Mutilation, Moscow 1993. Top Russian tennis player Elena Makarova was shown on TV accepting a prize money cheque for AUD$1500, a man telephoned her mother and threatened to mutilate a member oft the family unless he received half the winnings. The cash was duly handed over. (this is really disgusting)
18. Muster’s legs crushed by car, Miami, March 1989. Muster was in his first ever TMS final in Miami. The eve of the final match, he was unloading his stuff from the car and a drunk-driver hit him. His left knee was severely injured and doctor said he won't be able to play for a year (well, at first doctor said he won't be able to return to tennis). But he got back to the tour in only 5 and a half month and eventually got to the top (#1 ranking).
17. Jelena Dokic’s father jailed, Birmingham, England, 1999. June 99, Damir Dokic was forcibly ejected from Birmingham’s Edgbason Club for shouting at everyone and telling them they were “fascists”. Once outside the club, he proceeded to lie down in front of traffic in the middle of the road and ended up spending the afternoon in jail.
16. McEnroe’s “Pits of the World!” Wimbledon, England, June, 1981. John McEnroe was playing Tom Gullikson on Wimbledon’s Court #1. Dinking a simple volley into the net, McEnroe turned to the umpire and asked: “I suppose that first serve was good?” “The serve was good”, replied the umpire. It was then that McEnroe turned away and uttered the immortal line: “ You guys are the pits of the world, you know that”. After a long pause, Thomas (the umpire) told McEnroe that he was going to award a point against him. The crowd cheered their approval and McEnroe went ballistic. “You are incompetent”, he screamed, “I’d like the referee brought out.
”In the ensuing chaos McEnroe was docked a second point. After he’d composed himself and won the match he was fined $1500. He was lucky not to be disqualified.
‘Super Brat’, as he was know after this tantrum, set a precedent in tennis like no other. From that day onwards players have been moaning, swearing, misbehaving and spitting the dummy like never before. And we spectators love it . (Yuck, I hate it. Look what you’ve done to this world, JMac. No wonder the McEnroes like Pandy so much, he’s practically a McEnroe breed).
15. Navratilova defects, New York, August 1975. Right in the middle of USO, Martina defected with the help of the FBI (Wow, really). After much negotiation and huge protest from the Czech authorities, she received her green card. She had to wait 5 years until became a US citizen. “That means five years of avoiding flights over Communist territory, just in case my plane would be forced to land and I would be taken off it”, she wrote. “I wasn’t taking any chances.”
14. Tennis spectator shot, Forest Hills, NY, 1977. In USO 1977, a spectator was sitting on the stadium court watching a match when he was shot in the leg by someone letting off a gun on the outside the court. Police never found out who was responsible. Perhaps they were too busy attending to the other crimes committed during the fortnight, like the bomb scare on the opening day, the bomb scare on the last day and the nutter who slashed his wrists outside the exclusive West Side Club restaurant.
13. Nasty Nastase disqualified and reinstated, Flushing Meadows, NY, 1979. During a match between 2 of the then most controversial players in the world – John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase – the vociferous judgment of the crowd led to the overruling of the umpire’s decision to disqualify the Romanian player. Tourney officials, fearful that fans would riot if they couldn’t watch Nastase play on, reinstated the wayward player, despite the fact that he had been warned for misconduct, been deducted a point, been deducted a game and then been legitimately disqualified – all in strict accordance with tennis’s code of conduct.
12. Tarango storms off court, Wimbledon, England, 1995. It all started when he queried a line call on his own service, which he was convinced should have been an ace. Forced to replay the point, the American’s temper rose, especially when the crowd started heckling him. “Shut up!” he eventually yelled into the stands, at which point the umpire issued a code violation for verbal abuse. Demanding to see the supervisor, who backed his colleague, Tarango then told the umpire: “You are the most corrupt official in the game”. When another code violation was imposed the enraged player then shouted “That’s enough! That’s it!” picked up his bag and stormed off the court. Appalled at the treatment her husband received, Tarango’s wife, Benedicte went up to the umpire after the match and slapped him . “He deserved it, “ she said unrepentantly. (Geez, how disgusting, don’t ppl have any respect for the umpire ).
11. Alleged Cocaine abuse, Paris, France, 1995. Swedish player Mats Wilander and Czech Davis Cup player Karel Novacek were tested positive for the Class A drug and were consequently fined and banned from playing. There had been suspicions that hard drugs had been used by some of the more wild players on the ATP Tour, but it wasn’t until Wilander and Novacek were busted that the authorities were faced with the evidence that tennis wasn’t immune. Finally tennis players were revealed to be human, just like athletes in every other sport. However, Wilander and Novacek protest their innocence to this day.
(archive article)
The 23 Most SHOCKING moments in tennis ( (#23 to #11)
23. Wimbledon bombed, 1940. During WWII, **** launched its Blitz upon London. Oct 11, 1940, a bomb landed on centre court, no one’s hurt.
22. First ever Wimbledon streaker, 1996. A 23 yrs old female student who was working in the Tournament leapt into Centre court wearing only a maid’s pinny, which she graciously lifted for all the world to see. The finalists that day were Mal Washington and Krajicek.
21. Ivanisevic’s Wildcard win, 2001. (well, you know the story). Ivanisevic was as shocked as the rest of us.
20. Transsexual at USO, 1977. Dr Renee Richards, 42 years of age, lost to Virginia Wade. Richard Raskind, the former-self of Dr. Richards, competed as a man at the tournament in 1960. She was banned from WTA tourneys after being discovered as a transsexual. But the court ruled that would be infringing her human right, she was permitted to compete in WTA events within US and achieved a career high ranking of 26.
19. Player threatened with Mutilation, Moscow 1993. Top Russian tennis player Elena Makarova was shown on TV accepting a prize money cheque for AUD$1500, a man telephoned her mother and threatened to mutilate a member oft the family unless he received half the winnings. The cash was duly handed over. (this is really disgusting)
18. Muster’s legs crushed by car, Miami, March 1989. Muster was in his first ever TMS final in Miami. The eve of the final match, he was unloading his stuff from the car and a drunk-driver hit him. His left knee was severely injured and doctor said he won't be able to play for a year (well, at first doctor said he won't be able to return to tennis). But he got back to the tour in only 5 and a half month and eventually got to the top (#1 ranking).
17. Jelena Dokic’s father jailed, Birmingham, England, 1999. June 99, Damir Dokic was forcibly ejected from Birmingham’s Edgbason Club for shouting at everyone and telling them they were “fascists”. Once outside the club, he proceeded to lie down in front of traffic in the middle of the road and ended up spending the afternoon in jail.
16. McEnroe’s “Pits of the World!” Wimbledon, England, June, 1981. John McEnroe was playing Tom Gullikson on Wimbledon’s Court #1. Dinking a simple volley into the net, McEnroe turned to the umpire and asked: “I suppose that first serve was good?” “The serve was good”, replied the umpire. It was then that McEnroe turned away and uttered the immortal line: “ You guys are the pits of the world, you know that”. After a long pause, Thomas (the umpire) told McEnroe that he was going to award a point against him. The crowd cheered their approval and McEnroe went ballistic. “You are incompetent”, he screamed, “I’d like the referee brought out.
”In the ensuing chaos McEnroe was docked a second point. After he’d composed himself and won the match he was fined $1500. He was lucky not to be disqualified.
‘Super Brat’, as he was know after this tantrum, set a precedent in tennis like no other. From that day onwards players have been moaning, swearing, misbehaving and spitting the dummy like never before. And we spectators love it . (Yuck, I hate it. Look what you’ve done to this world, JMac. No wonder the McEnroes like Pandy so much, he’s practically a McEnroe breed).
15. Navratilova defects, New York, August 1975. Right in the middle of USO, Martina defected with the help of the FBI (Wow, really). After much negotiation and huge protest from the Czech authorities, she received her green card. She had to wait 5 years until became a US citizen. “That means five years of avoiding flights over Communist territory, just in case my plane would be forced to land and I would be taken off it”, she wrote. “I wasn’t taking any chances.”
14. Tennis spectator shot, Forest Hills, NY, 1977. In USO 1977, a spectator was sitting on the stadium court watching a match when he was shot in the leg by someone letting off a gun on the outside the court. Police never found out who was responsible. Perhaps they were too busy attending to the other crimes committed during the fortnight, like the bomb scare on the opening day, the bomb scare on the last day and the nutter who slashed his wrists outside the exclusive West Side Club restaurant.
13. Nasty Nastase disqualified and reinstated, Flushing Meadows, NY, 1979. During a match between 2 of the then most controversial players in the world – John McEnroe and Ilie Nastase – the vociferous judgment of the crowd led to the overruling of the umpire’s decision to disqualify the Romanian player. Tourney officials, fearful that fans would riot if they couldn’t watch Nastase play on, reinstated the wayward player, despite the fact that he had been warned for misconduct, been deducted a point, been deducted a game and then been legitimately disqualified – all in strict accordance with tennis’s code of conduct.
12. Tarango storms off court, Wimbledon, England, 1995. It all started when he queried a line call on his own service, which he was convinced should have been an ace. Forced to replay the point, the American’s temper rose, especially when the crowd started heckling him. “Shut up!” he eventually yelled into the stands, at which point the umpire issued a code violation for verbal abuse. Demanding to see the supervisor, who backed his colleague, Tarango then told the umpire: “You are the most corrupt official in the game”. When another code violation was imposed the enraged player then shouted “That’s enough! That’s it!” picked up his bag and stormed off the court. Appalled at the treatment her husband received, Tarango’s wife, Benedicte went up to the umpire after the match and slapped him . “He deserved it, “ she said unrepentantly. (Geez, how disgusting, don’t ppl have any respect for the umpire ).
11. Alleged Cocaine abuse, Paris, France, 1995. Swedish player Mats Wilander and Czech Davis Cup player Karel Novacek were tested positive for the Class A drug and were consequently fined and banned from playing. There had been suspicions that hard drugs had been used by some of the more wild players on the ATP Tour, but it wasn’t until Wilander and Novacek were busted that the authorities were faced with the evidence that tennis wasn’t immune. Finally tennis players were revealed to be human, just like athletes in every other sport. However, Wilander and Novacek protest their innocence to this day.
