10 Most Shocking Events in Tennis History

What makes sports so riveting is that they are unscripted. It is reality, it is live and you do not definitively know what will happen next.

So here are the 10 most shocking events in tennis history.

I only chose 10, so this list isn’t exhaustive, but if you believe an event should be on this list, comment below with the reason why. 

Martina Hingis' Cocaine Charge

Given Martina Hingis’ outspoken demeanour, her wishy-washy defence of the cocaine charge led me to believe she was guilty.

Perhaps Hingis should have used Richard Gasquet’s defence, whereby he claimed cocaine entered into his body when he kissed a girl called Pamela.

The smoking gun was someone had witnessed Pamela snorting the white lines in the bathroom.

Sportsmanship at Its Finest

Leander Paes has a history of using underhand tactics and engaging in psychological warfare. He clearly got into the mind of Robert Kendrick by purposely hitting the shot at him.

Kendrick responded by serving at Paes who wasn’t supposed to receive the serve.

Disgusting behaviour by both players. 

Jeff Tarango’s career highlight

The crowd were abusing Jeff Tarango, so he told them to shut up and in response umpire Bruno Rebeuh called a code violation.

Tarango attempted to do a Ilie Năstase, but unlike Năstase, Tarango was a no-name, plus the crowd was against him.

In protest, Tarango walked off, and to make matters worse, his wife later slapped umpire Rebeuh. 

Mr. Năstase

During the 1979 U.S. Open, umpire Frank Hammond had already warned Ilie Năstase and even docked a point for repeated code violations.

Feeling victimised by Hammond, Năstase refused to serve, forcing the umpire to award the match, ironically, to John McEnroe.

The crowd started booing, and unrest spread throughout the stands so much so that, fearing a riot, the U.S. Open management reinstated Năstase and replaced Hammond. 

Mary Pierce’s Last Match

Mary Pierce’s screams of agony are horrific to listen to.

The ruptured anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee ended her career.  

Sie Sind Verrückt

Regardless of how irritating Daniel Köllerer’s antics were, Stefan Koubek taking matters into his own hands and assaulting Köllerer made him out to be the bad guy.  

Daniel Köllerer's Shame

Earlier this year, Daniel Köllerer was given a life ban for attempting to fix matches.

Köllerer is probably the “biggest” name who has been caught fixing matches.  

It does reveal an underworld connection to tennis, and one would be naïve to believe it doesn’t exist, because the likes of Köllerer, David Savic and several others are evidence that the integrity of tennis can be tainted.  

Richard Raskind/Renée Richards

From 1953-1960, Richard Raskind, a well-rounded individual, made up the numbers at the U.S. Open.

17 years later, Renée Richards entered the U.S. Open having already competed as Richard Raskind.

The United States Tennis Association has originally barred Richards from playing as a woman in the U.S. Open, only for the New York Supreme Court to overrule. 

What made Richards less notorious were her indifferent displays because she was an old person in a young person’s game. 

Imagine if she was 25 instead of 47.

The Burden of Richard Wertheim Weighing Down on Stefan Edberg

1983 is supposed to be a year with fond memories for Stefan Edberg because he won the Junior Grand Slam.

However, it’s likely that the thought of 1983 triggers repressed memories of Richard Wertheim.

Edberg was facing Simon Youl in the 1983 Junior U.S. Open Final.

Wertheim, who was the linesman, was struck by Edberg’s serve in the groin, which caused him to topple and hit his head on the ground.

Wertheim later died in hospital. 

The Debilitation of Monica Seles’ Career

By 1993, it was clear as daylight that Monica Seles had displaced Steffi Graf as the queen of tennis.

Heading into the 1993 Hamburg Open, Seles had won 31 tournaments in the last three years, eight of which were Grand Slams.

In the Hamburg quarterfinals, Seles was set to beat Magdalena Maleeva, when during the changeovers, a spectator stabbed her in the back with a boning knife.

The spectator was Günter Parche, an obsessed Graf devotee, whose motive was to protect Graf’s place in tennis history.

Whilst it wasn’t fatal, the stabbing debilitated Seles’ career to point where she took a two-year hiatus from the game.

She would only win one Grand Slam between 1995-2003. 

Please read The 30 Most Feared Servers of All Time.