Many great tennis players have been characterized by their ability to shock the fans not only because of their talent but also because of a series of unusual events that don’t have anything to do with these features
She also said they are getting sponsors and advantages due to their skin color. Later, Hingis also told Matchball magazine that playing with Serena Willaims felt like playing against a steamroller.
10. Martina Hingis
One of the surprising names on the controversial tennis player list is the 2013 International Tennis Hall of Fame inductee Martina Hingis. Moreover, she is considered one of the greatest female tennis players ever. During the 1990s, she became the youngest Grand slam champion and world number 1.
However, even after attaining so much success in tennis, Martiana is no stranger to tennis controversy. One of the famous controversial statements made by Hingis came in 2001 when she told Time Magazine being black has helped Willaims sister.
9. Andy Roddick
Andy Roddick is the last male American tennis player to win the Grand Slam title. He also has reached the finals of all major championships. Fans mostly know him for his lethal service, which made him difficult to beat. However, besides his amazing gameplay, Roddick is also known for his temper. Moreover, Roddick rarely left the tennis court without saying a thing to his opponent or the umpire.
8. Lleyton Hewitt
He is one of the well-known players whose accomplishment is overshadowed by his attitude and controversies. One of his famous rude moments happened in the 2001 US Open. He was playing with James Blake.
During the match, a black linesman called foot-fault on him twice. Later, he accused the linesman of calling faults against him due to his skin color. Likewise, French Open Hewitt called the chair umpire Andre England net judge spastics in the same year.
7. Daniel Koellerer
Unlike in other sports, it’s rare to hear the word match-fixing in tennis. But the name of Daniel Koellerer comes to everyone’s mind when match-fixing pops out. Moreover, he is the first person to serve a lifetime ban for trying to fix matches. Under sports anti-corruption rules, he was guilty of three different violations. So, people who loved and watched tennis were happy to see him given a lifetime ban for attempting match-fixing. Besides that, he had already served a six months ban before in 2006 for his bad behavior.
6. Marinko Matosevic
In 2014 he made a controversial comment on women’s tennis, saying he would never hire a female tennis coach like Andy Murray. Likewise, in the same year, even after winning the match against Nicolas Mahut, Matosevic lost his temper. He refused to do a handshake with the umpire, and kicked the on-court camera.
5. Bernard Tomic
In 2012 Miami Masters Tomic requested the umpire to eject his own father from the stands. In 2013 he was charged with eight months prison sentence for headbutting and breaking the nose of his hitting partner Thomas Drouet.
He also faced a one year ban from ATP World Tour following his improper behavior
4. Jimmy Connors
After Rafael Nadal, he is probably the player with the most winning personality of all time, achieving nothing less than 8 Grand Slam titles and being one of the first to execute the two-handed backhands, a style that many players constantly use these days.
Nevertheless, his competitive side always turned him into a rage machine that tended to outburst.
3. Ilie Nastase
He earned the nickname “Nasty” for his rude and impertinent actions on and off the court.
Mocking, swearing, and raging were common when Nastase played. Fans were even annoyed with his constant violent actions and words.
After retiring, Nastase has faced a ban for female players multiple times. Firstly he made racial comments about Serena Williams’s unborn child.
2. John McEnroe
If we’re talking about frantic tennis players, this is probably the best example of all, because, throughout his successful career, the common denominator wasn’t only the incredibly points or trophies, but also a series of outbursts that constantly showed on the court, whether to drain his rage , distract his rival or both.
The indomitable ” Big Mac”, the one who fought epic battles against legends
1. Nick Kyrgios
There is probably no unsportsmanlike conduct he has not conducted. Moreover, a whole new book of 100 pages can be written about his incidents. From verbally abusing fans, tanking, mocking opponents, smashing rackets to raging against the officials, he has done it all. Likewise, in the 2015 Rogers Cup, he made insulting comments on Stan Wawrinka‘s comments. Later, he got six months suspensions and about a $50k fine in total by ATP.