Updated! From Tiafoe to Serena

In 2024, some players will also have their nerves on edge. Together with the SID, tennisnet remembers some memorable moments in tennis.

F-BOMBS: Yes, a tennis season drags on quite a bit. In addition to the physical wear and tear, your manners can also suffer. Ask Frances Tiafoe, who, after his elimination from the ATP Masters 1000 tournament in Shanghai 2024, indulged in a tirade of insults towards the chair umpire that included so many “F-bombs” that even trained mathematicians had trouble keeping count. The fact that the apology followed immediately speaks for “Big Foe”.

F-BOMBS II: Denis Shapvalov didn’t approach it quite so obviously at the ATP Tour 500 event in Washington in the summer of 2024. The match against Ben Shelton was on the edge when Shapovalov had enough of the heckling from a spectator. And this cheaply, although not trimmed with fine words. The chair umpire didn’t like that. The Canadian was disqualified.

“YOU CANNOT BE SERIOUS!”: Probably the most famous freak out ever. John McEnroe sees a ball on the line in his match against his American compatriot Tom Gullikson at Wimbledon in 1981, but the referee does not. “The Brat” shouts loudly at the man in the chair for minutes – a huge scandal in the tradition-conscious Wimbledon, where etiquette and decency are almost more important than serve and volley

NOT WITH ME: Jimmy Connors, not exactly known as a child of sadness, makes short work of Ivan Lendl in the semifinals in 1986 in Boca Raton. He thinks a ball from Lendl is out of bounds, but Lendl gets the point. Connors discusses, complains, receives first a penalty point, then a game deduction. That’s too much of a good thing: Connors packs his bag and leaves the place. Game, Set, Match Lendl.

WOMEN’S POWER I: It remains undisputed that Serena Williams is one of the greatest players of all time. However, her temper often gets the best of her. Most recently in the 2019 US Open final against Naomi Osaka, when she insulted referee Carlos Ramos as a “thief”, was illegally coached and threw various rackets around. In 2009 she did even better in the semi-finals at the same place against Kim Clijsters. She announces to a line judge: “I’m going to shove this damn ball down your damn throat.” You can do it like that.

WOMEN’S POWER II: Karolina Pliskova also took part – quite emphatically. In the match against Maria Sakkari in Rome in 2018, the number one at the time was so annoyed with everything and everyone that when the sides changed, she abused the referee’s chair with full force with her bat in the best Zverev style. A hole in the side panel shows the remarkable power behind the blows. By the way, the match goes to Sakkari.

THE MAESTRO: Roger Federer? Really? Roger Federer is misbehaving? Yes, he can. In his childhood he is said to have been a real rager on the pitch, although there is no photo evidence of this. But from his semi-final against Novak Djokovic in Miami in 2009, when Federer attacked his racket full of anger. Afterwards he probably apologizes a hundred times to everyone: the referee, the opponent, the spectators, the ball children, his mother and everyone who crosses his path.

THE NOLE: Novak Djokovic’s most famous freakout wasn’t that long ago. In the round of 16 of the US Open 2020 against Pablo Carreno Busta, the Djoker received a break and angrily fired a ball backwards with full force. A line judge collapses because the ball hit her in the larynx. Djokovic is visibly shocked, but all his wordy apologies do not save him from disqualification.

OWN GOAL: Goran Ivanisevic always has great entertainment value. The “Lord of the Aces” likes to clearly audibly insult referees and linesmen, spectators and even himself. In 2000, in the round of 16 against Lee Hyung-taik in Brighton, he destroyed one racket after the other – until there was none left in the bag, but the match is not yet finished. There is no replacement left and Ivanisevic has to give up due to a lack of playing equipment.

BODILY INJURY I: David Nalbandian really lets it rip. In the 2012 final against Marin Cilic at the Queen’s Club in London, the Argentine had the feeling that everything was going against him. So he kicks at full speed against an advertising board in front of a linesman’s chair. A piece of tape splinters, the material finds its way into the linesman’s leg, and blood flows. Nalbandian no longer has to be angry, he can take a shower.

BODILY INJURY II: Yes, a chair referee like that lives a dangerous life, sometimes a match even ends up in the emergency room. At the 2017 Davis Cup between Canada and Great Britain, Denis Shapovalov hammered the ball towards the chair with full force after a lost point – and hit referee Arnaud Gabas right in the face. The Frenchman suffers a fracture of the orbital floor and ends up in the hospital, Shapovalov is allowed to change.

CHAIR INJURY: Who doesn’t remember when Alexander Zverev completely lost his temper at one of his favorite tournaments and abused a referee’s chair in Acapulco with his racket after a defeat in doubles alongside Marcelo Melo? After all: Zverev promised improvement. And since then he has done little or nothing wrong.

TENNIS RUPE: It is well documented that Fabio Fognini had a very short fuse when he was younger. The Italian behaved particularly disgracefully at the US in 2017 when, among other things, he called the chair referee a “bitch”. It was only logical that Fognini was excluded not only from the singles competition, but also from the doubles competition. Another victim was Simone Bolelli, who suddenly found herself without a partner.

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Zverev Alexander

Roger Federer

Novak Djokovic

Serena Williams