Wimbledon might have a garden-party air about it, but it is not all strawberries and cream in the sun.
Ahead of this year’s tournament, we look at controversies that have flared at the All England Club.
You’ve been Tarango’d
American Tarango and his wife Bendicte leave Wimbledon following his 1995 default (Fiona Hanson/PA)
Jeff Tarango’s name belongs in Wimbledon folklore after his astonishing 1995 outburst against umpire Bruno Rebeuh. The Californian stormed out of his third-round clash with German Alexander Mronz, aggrieved by several umpiring calls, telling Rebeuh: “You are the most corrupt official in the game.” Uproar around Court 13 continued as Tarango’s wife, Benedicte, slapped Rebeuh in the face. Tarango was banned from the following year’s Wimbledon.
Dressed for success
Eugenie Bouchard is among those to have encountered sartorial problems at the All England Club (Adam Davy/PA)
Wimbledon enforces strict clothing guidelines, with a 10-point guide declaring the tennis kit must be “almost entirely white”. It demands “common standards of decency” when it comes to underwear, and, although the rules have been criticised for being stuffy, they are here to stay. Even Roger Federer has to toe the line – in 2013 he was forbidden from wearing orange-soled trainers – while Eugenie Bouchard’s black bra straps caused a brouhaha two years ago. Only at Wimbledon…
“You cannot be serious”
John McEnroe produced one of the most famous Wimbledon outbursts in 1981 (Empics)
McEnroe’s outburst at umpire Edward James in 1981 somehow never grows old. The New Yorker was incensed over a call from James in a match against Tom Gullikson. “You can’t be serious man, you cannot be serious!” was the famous cry. “That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up! How can you possibly call that out?” McEnroe added: “You guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that?”
Murphy Jensen had even his family hypothesising that he might have been kidnapped when he failed to appear for a mixed doubles match at Wimbledon in 1995 and was defaulted. Amid speculation about his whereabouts, there was genuine concern – until the American contacted family to say he was safe and well, and had taken off for a fishing trip.
Oh father
Jelena Dokic's tennis exploits were often overshadowed by her father Damir (Tom Hevezi/PA)
Few tennis parents were ever quite as volatile as Jelena Dokic’s dad, Damir, who in 2000 was escorted out of Wimbledon brandishing a huge flag of St George. He had asked to borrow a journalist’s mobile phone, smashed it, and screamed: “The Queen is on the side of democracy – the rest of the country is fascist.” Damir was jailed in 2009 for threatening to bomb the Australian embassy in Belgrade.
Level terms
Gilles Simon caused controversy with his comments on equal pay (Adam Davy/PA)
Wimbledon has offered equal pay to men and women since 2007, but French player Gilles Simon said in 2012 that the men deserve to earn more, and he claimed every player in the men’s locker room agreed. “My point,” said Simon, “was that I have the feeling that men’s tennis is actually more interesting than women’s tennis.” Maria Sharapova responded: “I’m sure there are a few more people that watch my matches than his.”
Black heart
Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova have not always seen eye to eye (Mike Egerton/PA)
In 2013, the bitter rivalry between the two biggest names in women’s tennis was exposed. Serena Williams, in a story published in Rolling Stone magazine, was quoted as taking a veiled swipe at a player she said was “with the guy with a black heart”. Maria Sharapova felt she was the probable target. At the time, Sharapova was dating Bulgarian tennis star Grigor Dimitrov, who was previously close to Williams. Speaking at Wimbledon, Sharapova made claims about Williams’ private life, at a time when she was linked to coach Patrick Mouratoglou, saying: “If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and is getting a divorce and has kids.”
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7 Wimbledon controversies
