JOHN McENROE V BJORN BORG
The most famous spat on a tennis court gave rise to a winning catchphrase and was voted the top Wimbledon moment of all time.
When umpire Edward James ruled that McEnroe had lost one particular point the 22-year-old American was incandescent with rage.
“You cannot be serious, man. You cannot be serious. Chalk flew up. It was clearly in. You guys are the absolute pits of the world.”
James politely responded: “I’m going to award a point against you, Mr McEnroe.”
Since then McEnroe’s legendary four words have featured in pop songs and even been spoken by the man himself in adverts. Perhaps inevitably his autobiography was titled Serious. The Masters, 1975 Arthur Ashe made history when he became the first African-American to win a Grand Slam title 50 years ago. But a highly charged match against Ilie Nastase in Sweden seven years later also helped to change tennis culture.
During the game the bad-tempered Nastase got so out of control that he resorted to racial abuse and Ashe walked off court.
While the American defaulted the game by leaving the field of play the masters committee were so appalled by Nastase that they awarded victory to Ashe. French Open final, 1999 The Swiss player was close to beating German Graf when things went wrong with a disputed line call. Hingis argued with the umpire, earning herself a code violation which infuriated the crowd. From then on she played the bad girl, twice serving underhand and leaving for a bathroom break mid-set.
The crowd booed her while she remonstrated with the umpire and after Hingis eventually lost to Graf she left the court in tears. Exhibition match, 1982 There was never any love lost between this duo but their biggest spat came not in a Grand Slam final but an exhibition match in Chicago.
After a disputed line-call Connors snapped, crossed the net and confronted McEnroe face to face. McEnroe shoved his opponent leaving the two players looking more like riled-up boxers than tennis champions. US Open semi-final, 2009 Williams has form at the US Open. Nearly a decade ago she disputed a call from a line judge who insisted her ball was out at match point.
Rather than politely querying the decision Williams reacted by turning on the official, saying: “I swear to God I’ll f ****** take the ball and shove it down your f ****** throat.” Charming.
The resulting code violation meant she automatically lost the match without having a chance to replay the match point and was later fined £6,300 plus another £300 for breaking her racket earlier in the match. Canadian Challenge, 1980 Ilie “Nasty” Nastase was slapped with a default when he debated a line-call by umpire Karl Allison during a match against the almost equally fiery McEnroe.
As well as swearing colourfully Nastase made a rude hand gesture. Although he insisted the digit involved was his little finger, our picture above proves otherwise. Wimbledon, 1995 Things got out of control in this match after the umpire issued Tarango with a warning for an obscenity after he told some spectators to “shut up”. Tarango insisted that a supervisor be called and when the officials refused to budge on the penalty, Tarango exploded with petulant rage, telling the supervisor: “You are the most corrupt official in tennis.”
The umpire Bruno Rebeuh then docked a penalty point from Tarango – the second stage of the disciplinary procedure – prompting the player to shout: “That’s it!” He gathered up his kit and stormed off court.
Things only got worse when Tarango’s wife waited outside the changing rooms and attempted to slap Rebeuh as he left. Rogers Cup, 2015 It is saying something when you are accused of unsportsmanlike conduct by John McEnroe. But unruly Australian player Nick Kyrgios has a long history when it comes to verbal abuse of both spectators and players.
However nothing topped his behaviour during a match in the Rogers Cup three years ago when he repeatedly insulted his opponent Stan Wawrinka.
At one point during the second round tie at the Canadian event an on-court microphone picked up Kyrgios telling the Swiss two-times Grand Slam champion: “Kokkinakis b ****** your girlfriend. Sorry to tell you that, mate.” (A reference to Kyrgios’s Davis Cup team-mate Thanasi Kokkinakis.)
Wawrinka retired with a “back problem” midway through the third set at 4-0 down and Kyrgios was later fined and given a 28-day ban for his behaviour.