Most Shocking Tennis Court Moments
Some of the most shocking moments that occurred on tennis courts.
Comments (10)|32 Liked It
Tennis is supposed to be a civil game played by gentleman and ladies. But throw in big money and big events and shocking moments are sure to happen. Here are the most shocking tennis court moments in history.
Streaker at Wimbledon
Source (Krajicek and Washington enjoying the show)
During the 1996 Wimbledon Mens Final between Mal Washington and Richard Krajicek, 23 year old Tournament worker Melissa Johnson streaked through centre court. She wore an apron which she promptly lifted giving those in attendance a nice view of her breasts and vagina.
Shooting in the Stands
(Forest Hills tennis club today)
During the 1977 US Open in Forest Hills, John McEnroe (playing in his first US Open) was playing against Eddie Dibbs in a 3rd round match. A commotion in the stands forced the Umpire to call over the two players. “Someone has been shot in the stands”, the Umpire told them. Dibbs response was to say, “I’m out of here.” The Umpire called him back and said it was a mistake, someone was in shock not shot. McEnroe won the match and then the Umpire fessed up and told the two players a spectator in the stands had indeed been shot from a stray bullet from the streets of Queens. 1977 was the Son of Sam Summer in New York City and the last year the US Open was played in Forest Hills.
Crowd Overrules Umpire
Source (Ile Nastase, Tennis’ first real bad boy)
During the US Open in Flushing Meadow in 1979, Romanian wild man Ile Nastase was facing the equally wild John McEnroe. In the 4th set McEnroe served and Nastase said he was not ready. The Umpire awarded the point to McEnroe. Nastase complained and the crowd of 10,000 screamed he was right. The Umpire then docked Nastase again and awarded the game to McEnroe. The crowd went crazy and threw trash onto the court and police were called in. Seventeen minutes later, the referee ordered Nastase to serve for the next game. Nastase said “No!” The Umpire waited the required 1 minute for Nastase to serve and when he didn’t, the umpire disqualified him and awarded McEnroe the match. The crowd went ballistic and the tournament director fearing a full scale riot, overrode the decision and replaced the Umpire and then the match continued. McEnroe won the match but the crowd overrode the Umpire.
“You Cannot Be Serious” 1981 US Open
In 1981 during a 2nd round match vs Tom Gullickson at Wimbledon, John McEnroe absolutely threw a tantrum. After hitting a bad shot McEnroe questioned umpire Ted James about an earlier shot. When James told him the shot was called correctly McEnroe responded by saying, “You guys are the pits of the world, you know that.” James paused for a bit and then informed McEnroe he was going to award a point against him. The crowd went crazy and cheered this decision. Of course McEnroe went ballistic and told James he was “incompetent” and demanded the referee be brought out. Fred Hoyles, the referee, came out and McEnroe continued to make a fuss and he was docked another point. McEnroe screamed, “You cannot be serious!” He ended up being fined $1,500 after he won the match. He could easily have been disqualified for the rant. He went on to win Wimbledon that year but skipped the traditional dinner thrown in honor of the winner.
Henman is First to be Thrown Out at Wimbledon
Source (Henman gives flowers to Hall day after smashing her with ball)
At Wimbledon in 1995, Tim Henman accomplished what no other player had ever done at Wimbledon. During a doubles match with partner Jeremy Bates, Henman lost a crucial point in the 4th set tie breaker. Angry with himself, Henman picked up the ball and without thinking smashed it down the court. The streaking ball connected squarely with the ear of 16 year old ball girl Caroline Hall, who was running across the court at the very same instant. Hall went down like she was shot and the umpire immediately disqualified Henman and Bates from the match. Henman is the only player in Wimbledon’s long history to be disqualified from the tournament.
Tarango Booted and Wife Slaps Umpire
Just a few days after Henman was disqualified, during a 3rd round match at Wimbledon, England in 1995, hot tempered American Jeff Tarango had the umpire, Bruno Rebeuh, rule against him numerous times. When Rebeuh ruled against him again and called one of his serves out, Tarango lost it and shouted: “That’s it, I’m not playing”. He then turned to Rebeuh and yelled: “You are one of the most corrupt officials in the game and you cannot get away with this.” Tarango then asked the officiating supervisor to remove Rebeuh but he was refused. The crowd was really getting on Tarango at this point and he yelled, “Shut up!” at them. Rebeuh issued a code violation for verbal abuse and Tarango packed his bags and stormed off the court forfeiting the match. And then it got really bad as Tarango’s wife Benedicte walked up to Rebeuh and slapped him twice in the face. Tarango was fined heavily and banned from the next two Grand Slam tournaments.
Seles Stabbed During Match
On April 30, 1993, Monica Seles was the number one female tennis player in the world and playing in the Citizen Cup in Hamburg, Germany against Maggie Maleeva and was up 6-4, 4-3 when she sat down on her courtside seat during the changeover. An 39 year old unemployed German lathe operator named Gunter Parche then leaned over the 3 foot high barrier and stabbed Seles in the back with a 10 inch long knife. Seles let out a scream, clutched her back and stumbled on to the court. The attack took place in front of 6,000 fans in the arena. “He held the knife with both hands as he stabbed her in the back,” said one eyewitness. Seles was rushed to the hospital and treated for a one half inch knife wound in her upper back. Luckily the knife did not affect her lungs or shoulder blades. Parche was immediately subdued and apprehended. He turned out to be a mentally disturbed fan of Steffi Graf and stabbed Seles to help Graf regain the number one ranking in the world. It took Seles two years to get back to tennis and she was never really the same player again and never regained her number one ranking. Parche was given just a two year suspended sentence.
Linesman Dies After Being Struck by Stefan Edberg Shot
Richard Wertheim was working as a linesman during the 1983 US Open Boys Tournament when a shot by Stefan Edberg hit him in the groin and knocked him backwards and he fractured his skull on the hard surface and died shortly thereafter in the hospital. Edberg went on to win 6 Grand Slam Singles Titles and 3 Grand Slam Doubles Titles and even though he did nothing wrong he will always be remembered for this incident.
Related Articles
Lawnchair Larry’s Wild, Exhilarating and Ultimately Sad Ride Through Life
10 Comments
Great article, I knew about most of these but not the one about Stefan Edberg. What happened to Monica Seles was shocking but John McEnroe was always worth a watch!
great – loved this – love tennis too
Bizarre indeed! Noticed that McEnroe contributed quite a bit.
awesome article, Heard about some of them but the rest I never heard of. Thanks for sharing.
I like this one! Very interesting insites into the world of sports.
What a great article. I didn’t know about most of these. A most interesting read but what a shocker!
shocking indeed,i remember the naked lady, Seles and Edberg,nice job Joe
McEnroe was a joy to watch if you were after excitement. some of these I didn’t know about. Interesting write-up.
The ball Edberg hit that led to Dick Wertheim’s death was in 1983, not 1993. Wertheim played for Lexington, MA, in the Sunday morning Weekend Tennis League for years against other towns in the Route 128 area from Wakefield west to Lexington. BUD KEOHAN Wakefield, MA
Thanks Bud for the info and pointing out the typo!