"Tennis' top on-court flare-ups"
Tennis professionals try to maintain their composure during tennis matches but it is only natural for them to blow their cool once in a while. And as they say, it happens to the best of us. Some of tennis' greatest have let their emotions take a toll on them during the game.
America's John McEnroe is nothing short of legendary. The sportsman won three Wimbledon Championship Men's singles titles along with four U.S. Open ones. The former World no. 1 also bagged nine grand slam doubles titles and one grand slam mixed doubles title in his career. In the year 1999, McEnroe was enlisted in the International Tennis Hall Of Fame.
Known for his temperament issues, the athlete was not one of the favourites as far as the umpires and the tennis authorities are concerned. McEnroe lashed out at an umpire called Edward James at the 1981 Wimbledon Championship, after his shot was adjudged 'out'. The umpire awarded a point to America's Tom Gullikson after John after he scram out the words "You cannot be serious!"
McEnroe however, went on to win the match 7-6, 7-5 and 6-3, three games in a row in the same match. Furthermore, the professional proceeded further, only to take the 1981 Wimbledon Men's singles title.
Russia's 28-year-old Mikhail Youzhny is known for his steady all-court style of play. The athlete has been ranked no. 8 in the world at one point in his career, which is his highest ranking so far.
Even though Mikhail has yet to win a grand slam title of any sort, he has consistently been participating in the majors. Youzhny managed to make it to the 2006 U.S. Open Men's singles final and has made appearances in 4 Association of Tennis Professionals finals.
In the third round of the 2008 Sony Ericsson Open, the Russian faced Spain's Nicolas Almagro. Youzhny took the first set 7-6. Almagro, however, made a comeback in the second set by beating him six games to three. The Spaniard was down 4 games to 5 in the third set. Upon driving the ball into the net, after a twenty shot rally, Mikhail put the crowd in a state of shock. The player inflicted injury on himself by repeatedly hitting his racket on his forehead.
This obviously, caused his head to bleed. Much to everyone's surprise, after wiping off the blood trickling down his nose, the sportsman took the third set 7-5 and proceeded to the fourth round.
Switzerland's tennis maestro, "Roger Federer" has bagged a record sixteen grand slam singles titles in his profession so far. Apart from winning innumerable sports awards, the athlete almost ended up breaking Pete Sampras' 286 week world record of staying at the World no. 1 position.
Federer is notably one of the most composed, graceful players as far as the sport of tennis goes. The 2009 Sony Ericsson Open however, partially proves this statement wrong.
The enraged sportsman slammed his racquet on the court only to break it completely. Serbia's Djokovic ended up defeating Roger after making a comeback in the second set. Nole took the final set 6-3 and cruised through to the next round.
Former World no. 1 Serena Williams collectively has 27 grand slam titles to her name. The athlete has also bagged two Olympic Gold medals in her career.
Williams holds the record for having won more prize money than any other female in the history of sports. Unfortunately, that’s not the only reason why the American ace is famous for. Serena is noted to be one of the most hot-headed athletes in the game of tennis.
At the 2009 U.S. Open semi-finals, Williams flabbergasted the audience by walking up to a linesperson and threatening to kill her.
The meek linesperson called a 'foot fault' on Serena's second serve. It wasn't long before the officials walked on to the court and Serena was disqualified from the tournament, even though the player denied making any such statement. Nevertheless, her opponent Kim Clijsters advanced to the final and ended up taking the 2009 U.S. Open Women's singles title.
As much as such displays of anger shock the audience, they somewhat enjoy witnessing them.
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