Ranking the Top Foot-in-Mouth Moments in Tennis from 2014
As 2014 comes to a close, so do year-end reviews. No look back is complete without recognizing the biggest foot-in-mouth moments.
Tennis players are on tour so long and play in so many tournaments that somebody is bound to say something stupid. However, a terse retort in a post-match interview is forgivable. Everybody has a bad day.
Even questionable remarks in poor taste are not necessarily foot-in-mouth moments. During a Tennis Channel telecast, commentator Mary Carillo repeatedly suggested that Simona Halep should have tanked in a WTA Championships round-robin match to eliminate the possibility of facing Serena Williams in the finals.
A former professional player encouraging a current player to throw a match is shocking, appalling even. However, Carillo escaped this list because the only possible casualty was her integrity.
The top foot-in-mouth moments in 2014 were offensive, insulting, stupid or all three. These comments made people gag when they heard them. They provoked outrage and, in some cases, were followed by an apology.
5. John Inverdale Making Clueless Excuses
1 of 5
You would think that someone who is paid to talk would know when to shut up. Not John Inverdale. Remember when Inverdale insulted 2013 Wimbledon champion Marion Bartoli?
After Bartoli won Wimbledon, Inverdale famously said "she was never going to be a looker." He got booted from his BBC gig for it. A year later, back on the job, the dude sticks his foot in his mouth trying to explain why he said it.
Speaking with the Telegraph, Inverdale rattles off a list of excuses, including hay fever and fatigue, for his classless comments.
After claiming the "hay fever" made me do it defense, he then goes on to say: "It was drummed into us over and again. Never explain, never apologize, because if you do you'll dig an even bigger hole. So I thought: 'I'll just keep going and hope nobody heard it'."
4. Ernests Gulbis Belittles Women
2 of 5
Ernests Gulbis's comments about women in tennis were narrow-minded and stupid.
When asked about his sisters and their future as tennis players, Gulbis replied:
"Hopefully they're not going to pursue a professional tennis career. Hopefully. Because for a woman, it's tough. I wouldn't like my sisters to become professional tennis players. It's tough choice of life. A woman needs to enjoy life a little bit more. Needs to think about family, needs to think about kids. What kids you can think about until age of 27 if you're playing professional tennis, you know. That's tough for a woman, I think.
"
Dude breaks out 1950s sexist rhetoric in the only sport where women get equal prize money.
3. K. Laxman Insults Sania Mirza
3 of 5
Worse than demeaning someone based on gender is attacking someone's heritage.
Sania Mirza, a doubles specialist, is a Muslim from India. She raised eyebrows in her country when she married a Pakistani cricket player.
Yet she remains popular in India. When she was selected as a "brand ambassador" of a region of India, K. Laxman, a Hindu politician, blasted Mirza and called her the daughter-in-law to Pakistan.
The comments caused a stir and moved Mirza to tears. Put in the position of having to defend her patriotism, Mirza gave several interviews to express her loyalty to India.
It was a shameful and hurtful move by Laxman.
.jpg?w=256 "Colts Jaguars Football")
2. Shamil Tarpischev Disparages Williams Sisters
4 of 5
What could be worse than demeaning someone based on gender or questioning their heritage? How about questioning a player's gender?
Russian Tennis Federation President Shamil Tarpischev choked on the foot in his mouth. Appearing on a Russian late-night talk show, Tarpischev called Serena and Venus Williams the "Williams brothers."
Unlike Gulbis, who represents himself, Tarpischev represents an international tennis organization. The WTA fined him $25,000. He is serving a one-year suspension.
1. Fabio Fognini Utters Foul Ethnic Slur
5 of 5
As horrible as Tarpischev's comments were, they were made in Russia, far from the Williams sisters, in Russian. Tarpischev probably would not have made those comments within 100 miles of the Williams sisters.
Laxman's statement went public, but he too never said it in person, to his intended target.
Fabio Fognini hurled an ethnic slur, in competition, aimed at his opponent.
Fognini is known for boorish behavior. However, he hit a low when he uttered an ethnic slur toward Filip Krajinovic, of Serbia.
During a second-round match against Krajinovic in Hamburg, Fognini used the Italian word "zingaro," which means gypsy. With his back turned to Krajinovic, Fognini used the term and preceded it with a profanity that starts with an "sh" and rhymes with gypsy.
Fognini later apologized. It was just one of many examples of poor sportsmanship for the Italian and the reason his foot-in-mouth moment was the worst of 2014.
.jpg?w=480 "Colts Jaguars Football")
