16 hours ago
You thought this Wimbledon was anarchic – try these for size
What's going on at Wimbledon? We've had dodgy automated line calls, rows over the roof, and Rufus the hawk being outed by his handler. In truth, twas ever thus. You don't bring a thousand-odd players to this temple of tennis, then mix them in with 500 reporters and 39 different broadcasters, all hunting for stories, without generating the odd schemozzle. But which summers have thrown up the most chaotic tournaments? Here is Telegraph Sport 's list of Wimbledon anarchy.
1973: The Wimbledon strike
When was the men's field bulked out by 30 amateur hopefuls? In 1973, the year of the strike. The Association of Tennis Professionals had been founded just nine months earlier, and flexed its muscles in a labour dispute involving Yugoslavia's Niki Pilic.
Only a handful of true contenders entered the tournament, including Ilie Nastase and British No 1 Roger Taylor, who lost in the semi-finals to eventual champion Jan Kodes of Czechoslovakia. Despite the absence of most of the leading names, more than 300,000 spectators showed up, demonstrating that Wimbledon has always been a bigger brand than the athletes who participate in it.
1981: John McEnroe and the press-room brawl
'Superbrat' McEnroe was tabloid catnip at this time, having delivered his famous 'You cannot be serious' line earlier in the tournament. In the interview room after his semi-final win over Rod Frawley, he was furious to be asked if he had split up with his then girlfriend Stacy Margolin.
McEnroe spat out a few choice epithets about the gutter press, then stalked out, leaving the two very different constituencies of journalists – bloodthirsty British hacks and high-minded American essayists – to argue amongst themselves. Eventually Nigel Clarke of The Mirror pushed Charley Steiner of RKO Radio and the pair of them started brawling on the floor.
1995: A hat-trick of defaults
In a mind-boggling statistical freak, Wimbledon has only ever delivered three disqualifications – and they all came at the same tournament. First up was squeaky-clean Tim Henman, then 20, who whacked the ball away in anger after missing a volley in a men's doubles match. Unfortunately, a ball girl happened to cross the net at just that moment, and took a heavy blow on the ear.
Three days later it was the turn of Jeff Tarango, the hot-tempered Californian, who told a noisy crowd to 'shut up'. When Bruno Rebeuh gave him a code violation for an audible obscenity, Tarango responded by calling Rebeuh 'the most corrupt chair umpire in the world,' thus earning a point penalty. Tarango walked off court, effectively disqualifying himself. His wife Benedicte then provided the chef's kiss by slapping Rebeuh in the face.
The hat-trick was completed by doubles player Murphy Jensen, who missed a mixed-doubles match – some accounts blame heavy traffic – and was so angst-filled that he immediately disappeared on a fishing trip to Scotland without telling anyone. One newspaper report quoted the Wimbledon chief of police, who was incensed about the wasted effort spent on a Jensen manhunt.
1996: The Centre Court streaker
Melissa Johnson is not the only streaker to have interrupted a Wimbledon final – Mark Roberts also did so in 2002 – but she drew considerably more acclaim from the crowd. She also succeeded in distracting MaliVai Washington, the eventual runner-up, with a cheeky gesture. 'I look over and see this streaker,' Washington explained, during the presentation ceremony. 'She lifted up the apron and she was smiling at me. I got flustered and three sets later I was gone.' Commentating on TV, McEnroe asked for 'replays from all angles'.
2001: People's Monday
We could choose any number of rain-wrecked Wimbledons from the era before the Centre Court roof arrived in 2009. According to meteorologists, there have been 32 days washed out across the tournament's history, although 1888, 1997 and 2004 were the only years to suffer multiple incidences.
Ironically, the 2001 event was sunny and dry until the second Friday, when the weather turned horrid and Henman lost his infamous semi-final to wild card Goran Ivanisevic in several heart-stopping instalments played over three days. Ivanisevic and Pat Rafter then played the only men's final to begin on a Monday, in front of a lively and excitable audience. The Wimbledon website described it as 'more like a football crowd than a tennis crowd'.
Our 2001 champion Goran Ivanisevic has been inducted into the @TennisHalloFame 🇭🇷
The author of perhaps the greatest #Wimbledon story ever told...
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) January 28, 2020
2013: Slippery grass
Seven players withdrew injured on so-called 'Wacky Wednesday', which legendary coach Nick Bollettieri said was 'easily the craziest day of tennis I have ever seen. And I have been doing this for 60 years.' One of the highest-profile victims was Maria Sharapova, who said, 'I buckled my knee three times … I've just never fallen that many times in a match before.' Victoria Azarenka, the other highest-ranked seed in the bottom half of the draw, also pulled out of the tournament as a result of an injury sustained earlier in the week.
Various theories were advanced, including one unlikely suggestion from Michelle Larcher de Brito – Sharapova's conqueror – that there were loose grass cuttings on the surface. You might as well accuse Wimbledon of being a haven of closet communists. From a PR perspective, the All England Club was fortunate that the biggest story of the day still revolved around Roger Federer, who kept his footing against Sergiy Stakhovsky but lost in four sets to end his incredible run of 36 straight grand-slam quarter-finals.
