Mayhem On The Court

Tennis courts are the stages on which so much drama can unfold. We have seen heartbreak and souring spirits grace its surface, but there has been some insanity as well. Sports allow us to release some stress but in the case of the professionals this is their livelihood, so they tend to take it very seriously. When they miss a shot, trip, or get denied a point, they can become very passionate. Good sportsmanship is the ability to keep those more intense emotions at bay and keeping a calm face whether you win or lose. 

Here are some of the craziest moments in tennis!

The mere mention of his name conjures up images of broken rackets, bruised egos, and a damn good tennis player. He was famous for his outbursts on the court that even get him ejected a few times from a match. He met his match though in Melbourne in 1990 when he was playing against Mikael Perfors. In this match he had been warned for intimidating a lineswoman and was docked a point for smashing a racket. Standard affair, but the kicker came in a literal form when the umpire Gerry Armstrong came on the scene and stepped on Mcenroe.

Billie Jean King was probably the best female tennis player out there and when Bobby Riggs beat her she decided to challenge him. The Battle of the Sexes flooded the Houston Astrodome and in front of a crowd of 30 thousand people, and 48 million people watching on TV, she presented Riggs with a piglet; for his treatment of women. King won in the end, but the event was something to behold. 

Jeff Tarango was a hot head and was known to flip at a moments notice. When he was denied an ace serve at a competition he began cursing out the umpire and then the crowd as they told him to shut it. He defaulted the match, stormed off the field, and said the umpire was a corrupt official. As he got to the locker room he was slapped by a woman, who was the umpires wife.