Most Disrepectful Moments in Tennis

[britbox]

This was quite amusing and cringeworthy in equal measure.



Any others to add to these?

 

[GameSetAndMath]

Jeff Tarango Incident.

 

[britbox]

Jeff Tarango Incident.

Didn't the ump in that match later get done for corruption?

 

[isabelle]

almost all Big Mac and Connor's matchs are an ex of disrespect

 

[Nadalfan2013]

When Roger made a whole dramatic scene at the 2009 AO final ceremony and Nadal couldn't even smile anymore and even had to apologize for winning.

Federer shed so many tears that I even thought Nadal would drown from a flooding. But then I remembered that he knows how to swim.

It was very disrespectful, Federer should have put his ego aside for a few minutes and let the winner celebrate. B-)


Another disrespectful moment is when Steffi Graf won the 1993 French Open right after Monica's stabbing and didn't even say a "get well soon Monica" in her speech. Absolutely disgusting. I'm so glad that Serena beat her inflated record.

 

[Chris Koziarz]

Did you start this thread BB, after learning of an extraordinary attack by Tomic who unloaded on Hewitt after first round loos at his presser?
https://www.theage.com.au/sport/tennis/no-one-likes-him-any-more-bernard-tomic-unloads-on-lleyton-hewitt-20190114-p50rcs.html

Your intro video shows only examples of on court disrespect. I'll add to it some off court examples, that are more telling, because off court examples are committed with premeditation rather than "in the heat of the moment". The player had time to debrief his match and form his long term opinion of the situation he's in and carefully tell said opinion at the presser. The #1 king of all disrespect not only in tennis but arguably all sports, is of course Tomic. Couple years ago after having lost in Wimby, he unloaded on Pat Rafter (then DC captain), because the keepers of Pat Rafter Area in Brisbane denied Tomic free access to the court. Tomic thought he deserved free access so became angry when they stopped him and asked him to pay some $20. This incident is also an indication of Tomic's stupidity, because if he disagree with the rules of Arena hire, he should argue with the rules but he went after the Arena's name and thought Rafter was hie enemy. Then he went after the whole Tennis Australia, including Craig Tiley.
It looks as everyone around Tomic doomed to become his enemy, so Hewitt was next in line after Rafter as DC cap, and even the innocent reporters who just ask the questions. Take a look at the extraordinarily disrespectful body language of Tomic captured by the video of my The Age article. Notably, at 1:00, when he turns sideways while talking to the reporters. I've never seen such extraordinarily disrespectful behaviour at a presser before.
Kyrgios largely grew out of his on court antics shown in your video but Tomic did not. Worse: Tomic displays the same disrespect both on & off court.

EDIT: I use the pronoun "he" while talking about tennis players here because all examples of big disrespect always come from male players. There are hardly any comparable examples in women's tennis. Serena stands out as the biggest case women's disrespect on court but off court she's always nice and well composed. And there is no way to draw any parallelism between Serena & Tomic behaviours. While Serena may have some personality issues she needs to work on, Tomic is simply a disrespectful psychopath, IMO beyond any help, and he's going to stay and die like that.

 

[britbox]

No, I started it after looking for the Tomic serve against Kyrgios you mentioned in the exhibition and stumbled across it... but when looking for tennis and disrespect... Tomic usually crops up frequently.

Tomic is a real brat with no redeeming features IMO. On the other hand, Kyrgios is a brat but does have some redeeming features. I'm not sure why anybody would pick Tomic for Davis Cup anyway - it's not like he's kicking the door down for selection. Hewitt wants to foster a team mentality with players who want to play for Australia, not cater for some primadonna.

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

If we are including ladies as well, Serena has a couple of cringeworthy moments...

 

[GameSetAndMath]

When Roger made a whole dramatic scene at the 2009 AO final ceremony and Nadal couldn't even smile anymore and even had to apologize for winning.

Federer shed so many tears that I even thought Nadal would drown from a flooding. But then I remembered that he knows how to swim.

It was very disrespectful, Federer should have put his ego aside for a few minutes and let the winner celebrate. B-)

Tennis is the only sport in which the loser is expected to make a speech right after losing. Roger had no intention to steal the show by crying. It just happened in the moment.

On the other hand, Ralph actually wanted specific referee to be banned from his matches. This was not a request made in the heat of the moment, but a request made after calculated thought. I think disrespecting the referee is certainly more serious than other examples of disrespect.

 

[Chris Koziarz]

Confirming my post above about Tomic (coincidentally), smh wrote a timeline about this king of brats:
https://www.smh.com.au/sport/tennis...alian-tennis-bitter-feud-20190115-p50rdv.html
but they reported only raw words only, omitting some facts and Tomic's behavioural details. The details that say fuller story. But even the scant details reveal the extents of dysfunction in Tomic's world. Enough to quote just one of his latest sentences, pronounced in a bitter, nonchalant tone:

"I did a bit of work with him [Hewitt] a couple of years ago. He used to hate Tennis Australia, it's weird and now he loves them. What's happened here?"

What? Hewitt was good because he used to hate TA? So Tomic's motivation to work with Hewitt & play DC was his hatred of TA. And now, he has a problem, because he discovered Hewitt in fact does not share his hatred. Well, such motivation is as dysfunctional as it can ever get. The incident that sparked said hatred was almost 4 y ago (after wimby 2015), but he still remembers it, perhaps all he remembers about his relationship with TA is hatred, while Craig Tiley said many times they wanted to forget the incident and wish Bernard all the best.

 

[Fiero425]

When Roger made a whole dramatic scene at the 2009 AO final ceremony and Nadal couldn't even smile anymore and even had to apologize for winning.

Federer shed so many tears that I even thought Nadal would drown from a flooding. But then I remembered that he knows how to swim.

It was very disrespectful, Federer should have put his ego aside for a few minutes and let the winner celebrate. B-)


Another disrespectful moment is when Steffi Graf won the 1993 French Open right after Monica's stabbing and didn't even say a "get well soon Monica" in her speech. Absolutely disgusting. I'm so glad that Serena beat her inflated record.

I haven't seen it in years, but the same thing happened in 2014 where Rafa supposedly got hurt in the final against Wawrinka and commentators made out reverence should be shown! Stan was supposed to hold back his excitement and pleasure of winning the title to show Rafa respect! WTF; how much respect does Rafa show for his opponent falling on the ground in rapture winning even the smallest event? Screw him! Let'er rip and jump up and down like a fool and show him no concern IMO! :whistle:

 

[DarthFed]

Tennis is the only sport in which the loser is expected to make a speech right after losing. Roger had no intention to steal the show by crying. It just happened in the moment.

On the other hand, Ralph actually wanted specific referee to be banned from his matches. This was not a request made in the heat of the moment, but a request made after calculated thought. I think disrespecting the referee is certainly more serious than other examples of disrespect.

You bring up an interesting point about the speeches right after a big final. Also of note is that tennis and chess are the only two games I can think of where players are basically required to shake hands before and after the game, a dumb practice IMO. But tennis does take it one step further with speeches where losers are expected to congratulate the winner again and be all gracious and weak.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

You bring up an interesting point about the speeches right after a big final. Also of note is that tennis and chess are the only two games I can think of where players are basically required to shake hands before and after the game, a dumb practice IMO. But tennis does take it one step further with speeches where losers are expected to congratulate the winner again and be all gracious and weak.

No shaking hands before and after is ok. But, I think they should simply omit the loser from the ceremonies and also not expect the loser to make a speech. That way the loser will be given the privacy and time to mourn the loss before going public again.

 

[DarthFed]

No shaking hands before and after is ok. But, I think they should simply omit the loser from the ceremonies and also not expect the loser to make a speech. That way the loser will be given the privacy and time to mourn the loss before going public again.

We will agree to disagree on shaking hands after a loss. I often didn't after big chess losses, just depended on my mood I guess. But that crap being required is an outdated practice. And tennis even expects photos being taken of the loser

 

[Fiero425]

We will agree to disagree on shaking hands after a loss. I often didn't after big chess losses, just depended on my mood I guess. But that crap being required is an outdated practice. And tennis even expects photos being taken of the loser

Not to mention the loser has to ingratiate himself to the victor and the crowd or he's considered a "sore loser!" You almost see the wide-eyed expectations of the winner that he wants that praise! Agassi was one of the people I think of with how he just about NEEDED Sampras to kiss his arse and tell the crowd how great he was in defeat! :whistle: :cuckoo:

 

[Chris Koziarz]

No shaking hands before and after is ok. But, I think they should simply omit the loser from the ceremonies and also not expect the loser to make a speech. That way the loser will be given the privacy and time to mourn the loss before going public again.

How about the customary "I want to congratulate my opponent" phrase winners do always utter at the ceremony. This phrase attracts disdain, so insincere and hypocritical it is. Sometimes a loser cannot stand it and simply shouts back to shut up (as did Zverev to Fed at HC). I don't understand why such fake congratulating became so prevalent. It's simply stupid. Fed, by having said it 99 times in ATP (plus 3 times after HC), has just shown that he is also stupid because he uncritically repeats such nonsensical phrase. I haven't been watching tennis long enough to remember any wiser times when they did not say it. Anyone remembers when this stupidity started?
There are plenty alternative expressions to graciously rapport with the loser if you as a winner want to do so. E.g.: thank you for the match. It's not the result u wanted but hopefully RU trophy is a good consolation, wish u luck next time". Or whatever, but please stop this stupid word "I want to congratulate u", which just makes me puke, even as an observer. Thank goodness I'm not a RU tennis player attending a ceremony; if I was one I would be acting like Zverev in HC all the time, and on some occasions even worse.

 

[Jelenafan]

“I dont want your congrats! Stick your sincere commendations where the sun don’t shine! I wanted to win but I lost, now let me cry my bitter tears in private! “

 

[Murat Baslamisli]

Part of losing the final is suffering the aftermath. I wish it wasn't so. Look at World Cup Football, or European Cup or many others...One team celebrating like crazy and you are crying on the pitch as the second best because you have to wait for your runner up medal ...On top of that, in tennis, they make you talk ! I have so much respect for all the players with all those gracious RU speeches I have heard in the last 30-40 years. I would have sucked at it ...

 

[DarthFed]

Part of losing the final is suffering the aftermath. I wish it wasn't so. Look at World Cup Football, or European Cup or many others...One team celebrating like crazy and you are crying on the pitch as the second best because you have to wait for your runner up medal ...On top of that, in tennis, they make you talk ! I have so much respect for all the players with all those gracious RU speeches I have heard in the last 30-40 years. I would have sucked at it ...

I'm not even sure I'd partake in the runner-up garbage (photos and speech). I'd be like "give me my effin check so I can get out of here". Because let's be honest, that's the only decent thing second place gets you in sports.

 

[GameSetAndMath]

They can always send the check by post and the runner up dinner plate by UPS or FedEx. Let the loser run away immediately.