> TENNIS TANTRUMS

The epic outbursts of these five players have earned spots in history, for all the wrong reasons. John McEnroe, Wimbledon, 1981 In his first-round match at Wimbledon ‘81, McEnroe was fined $1,500 (U.S.) after he told the match umpire that umpires were “the absolute pits of the world” and famously yelled “You cannot be serious!” Nick Kyrgios, Rogers Cup, 2015 The ATP hit Kyrgios with a $10,000 fine for what courtside microphones heard him saying to opponent Stan Wawrinka during their Montreal matchup — that Kyrgios’ fellow Aussie player, Thanasi Kokkinakis, had “banged” Wawrinka’s girlfriend. Serena Williams, U.S. Open, 2009 Williams had already earned a warning for racquet abuse during her semifinal meeting with Kim Clijsters when, after being called for a foot fault, she approached the lineswoman and yelled that the woman was lucky Williams wasn’t “shoving this ball down your throat.” The penalty won Clijsters the game, and saddled Williams with a $10,000 fine. Marcos Baghdatis, Open, 2012 It isn’t unheard of for players to smack their racquets in a show of frustration. But destroying four different racquets in mere minutes? That’s a move that catapulted Cypriot player Baghdatis into tennis’s bad apple hall of fame. He was fined $1,250 for the display of rage. Andrea Petkovic, Dubai Tennis Championships, 2015 The German player threw a veritable tantrum in Dubai in 2015 when a received shot that seemed obviously outside of the baseline was ruled “in.” In response, Petkovic fell to her knees to indicate where the ball had landed, and then banged her hands on the court and pleaded. She lost the match.