The top 10 tennis meltdowns

Wimbledon Betting / Dan Fitch / 11 May 2011 / Leave a Comment

Serena argues at the US Open.

From McEnroe to Serena, Dan Fitch looks at the players who let their tempers get in the way of their tennis.

Think of Wimbledon and one of the first memories that will come flooding back is John McEnroe at his maddest and baddest.

Tennis is as much a mental battle as a physical one, which is why even the best players are always susceptible to a breakdown of epic proportions. Here are the top ten tennis meltdowns.

Most players opt for rage as their weapon of choice when losing it with an umpire, but Andy Roddick instead opted for extreme sarcasm, when Hawkeye overturned an out call and the chair umpire subsequently awarded the point to Philipp Kohlschreiber at the 2008 Australian Open.

Although in truth it was a half-hearted effort, David Ferrer was always unlikely to win any plaudits when he lobbed a ball in the direction of a crying baby that was putting him off his serve, in a match against Mardy Fish. The incident was made all the worse for the image of the baby's father clutching his child in a protective manner, as if someone had just fired a bullet at the infant.

In 1995 the umpire Bruno Rebeuh not only got on the wrong side of Jeff Tarango, but also his wife who slapped the official in the face. The American had been hit with two code violations by Rebeuh, after telling the crowd to 'shut up' and accusing the umpire of corruption. Tarango responded by storming off the court and was defaulted, but not before he'd told his missus to give his new enemy a right hander.

This clip is most remarkable for the fact that the commentator reacts to the madness around him as if he's narrating a sedate wildlife documentary. When Bruno Echagaray is called for a foot fault in a third set tie break to lose the match, his first reaction is stunned shock, which quickly gives way to fury.

While most tennis meltdowns involve a player at war with the umpire, Mikhail Youzhny had no one to blame but himself when he hit a backhand into the net at break point. The Russian decided to take out his frustrations on his own head with his racquet, but despite drawing blood he somehow managed to regain his composure to beat his opponent Nicolas Almagro in a third set tie-breaker.

Sometimes in life you have to decide when to fight your battles and when it would be wiser to turn the other cheek. In 1999 Martina Hingis was up a set and a break against Steffi Graf in the French Open final, when she disputed a line call and then went into meltdown. She went on to lose the game and had to dragged out in tears by her mother, after refusing to come out for the trophy presentation.

The talented Belgian sounded more like a death metal frontman than a tennis player as he he screamed at officials, during a match in which he was winning against David Ferrer in Miami. Malisse also threw a ball at a line judge, kicked over a chair and smashed his racquet, in an emotional outburst that saw him given a four-week ban, stripped of $13,290 in prize money and also fined $7705.

It might have been the ladies semi-final of the US Open, but there was nothing remotely ladylike about Serena Williams' foul mouthed tirade against a lineswoman who had pointed out a second-serve foot-fault, when down match point. Serena's potty mouth saw her lose the point and therefore the match, leaving a grateful Kim Clijsters to contest the final.

It's hard enough to reach the semi-finals of the US Open when you're 39-years old, as Jimmy Connors did in 1991, but it's even harder if the umpire is making bad calls. So perhaps it's not surprising that Connors reacted angrily when the official made two line calls against him, as he battled Aaron Krickstein in the fourth round.

There are dozens of examples of John McEnroe losing his mind with rage, but this is the most famous and iconic, with the lines 'You cannot be serious' and 'Chalk flew up' entering popular consciousness.

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