Ten pivotal penalty points in Grand Slam history
Emotions and frustrations can get the better of even the best tennis players, just ask the likes of John McEnroe and Serena Williams as the duo are among a host of stars who have been on the receiving end of a pivotal penalty point in Grand Slams.
Rising star Mirra Andreeva was slapped with a penalty point for throwing her racket during her fourth-round loss to Madison Keys at Wimbledon. It is no doubt all part of the learning curve as the Russian is still just 16 years old.
Andreeva is not the first and she won’t be the last tennis player to be on the receiving end of a penalty point.
In case you are not familiar with the rulebook when it comes to points deductions in tennis here you go:
The umpire or the tournament official can issue a point penalty/penalties against a player if they violate a rule or does not follow the tennis code of conduct. A first offence comes with a warning, a second offence results in a loss of a point and a third office results in a loss of a game.
After the third offence, the chair umpire or the tournament director could default or disqualify a player.
We have decided to only focus on penalty points only in the four Grand Slams – which may or may not have led to a default – and not a straight default like Novak Djokovic in the 2021 US Open.
John McEnroe – Wimbledon 1981
The point penalty was not pivotal in the sense that it changed the result of the match, but John McEnroe’s meltdown in the first round at Wimbledon in 1981 is etched in history as it was the match during which he famously screamed “You cannot be serious” at the chair umpire.
At 1-1 (15-30) in the first set against fellow American Tom Gullikson, McEnroe’s shot was called out and it did not go down well as he told the chair umpire: “Chalk came up all over the place, you can’t be serious man. You CANNOT be serious.”
He also shouted “You guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that?” to umpire Edward James and the official told him: “I’m going to award a point against you Mr McEnroe.”
It didn’t affect the outcome of the match as McEnroe won in three sets and also went on to win the title, but it did give the sporting world the famous “You CANNOT be serious” quote.
John McEnroe – 1990 Australian
“You CANNOT be serious” if you thought John McEnroe would only appear on this list once. In fact, we could probably do a John McEnroe top 10.
Just under nine years after his infamous Wimbledon match, McEnroe found himself disqualified from the 1990 Australian Open for abusing just about any official in his way.
Taking on Mikail Pernfors in the fourth round in Melbourne, McEnroe was given a code violation for unsportsmanlike conduct after he intimidated a line judge that apparently made a bad call against him. Later he was handed a point penalty for smashing his racket.
Not long after he swore at the chair umpire and was hit with another code violation before he was defaulted for abusing the umpire, supervisor and tournament referee.
Andre Agassi – 1990 US Open
Many believe Andre Agassi should have been defaulted from his second-round match against Petr Korda at the 1990 US Open as he made some, erm, unpleasant comments about the chair umpire and spitted in his direction.
After one of his shots was called out, Agassi had a go at chair umpire Wayne McKewen as he asked: “Are you bullshitting me?” and also let out a “fuck!”
McKewen issued a code violation and Agassi then went further as he said: “I didn’t say anything! I didn’t say anything … you son of a bitch!” The official apparently didn’t hear the last sentence as no further punishment was issued.
However, Agassi was not done as on his way to his chair during a changeover he let out a spit and it landed on the official’s foot. He was handed a point penalty and the tournament director Ken Farrar was called.
“Spit on you? No. It was an accident, really,” protested the American. “Here, do you need a towel?”
Farrar accepted Agassi’s explanation and the point penalty was revoked although replays showed he was lucky to get away with it.
Jeff Tarango – 1995 Wimbledon
Just days after Jeff Tarango found himself on the opposite side of the net when Tim Henman and Jeremy Bates were disqualified after Henman hit a ball girl, the American himself ended up exiting the tournament in disgraceful circumstances.
Taking on Alexander Mronz in the third round of the singles, Tarango was 6-7, 1-2 and break-point down when he thought he’d served an ace. The line judge called it out, but umpire Bruno Rebeuh then overruled it and called let.
All hell broke loose.
“No, that was an ace,” he told the official, who disagreed. “No, it was an ace. Nonononononono, I’ve seen it on TV a million times, that was an ace.”
With the spectators getting agitated, Tarango shouted “Oh, shut up!” and he was given a warning for “audible obscenity” and he was not happy as he wanted to know “How come they can say whatever they want to me? Will you call the supervisor please, I have a big deal.”
Just as it looked like play would resume, Tarango told Rebeuh: “You are the most corrupt official in the game and you can’t do that!”
He was given a penalty point for verbal abuse, but Tarango had had enough and he decided to default himself as he walked over to his chair, picked up his bag and left the court.
Martina Hingis – 1999 French Open
Martina Hingis looked on course to win her sixth Grand Slam title as she was 6-4, 2-0 up against the great Steffi Graf when she suffered one of the biggest meltdowns in tennis.
The Swiss was furious when a forehand was called out and she asked chair umpire Anne Lasserre to check the mark. The official, though, stayed with the original decision after inspecting the mark, but Hingis did not want to accept the decision and walked over to Graf’s side of the court to point the mark.
Hingis was handed a penalty point and things went downhill as she even attempted an underarm serve, to the dismay of the crowd as they started booing her.
Graf ended up winning 4-6, 7-5, 6-2.
Serena Williams – 2009 US Open
Serena Williams is one of the few players who actually lost a match immediately after receiving a penalty point – and it happened on the biggest of stages.
Taking on wildcard Kim Clijsters in the semi-final, Williams was already up against it as she was down 4-6, 5-6 (15-30) when the official called a foot fault on her second serve, which ultimately meant she served a double fault and was now 15-40 down.
That set the American great off as she lashed out at the line judge, shouting: “I’m going to shove this [expletive] ball down your [expletive] throat.”
Having already received a penalty earlier in the match for smashing her racket, Williams was then hit with a point penalty and that was “game, set and match”.
Serena Williams – 2011 US Open
A few years later and Williams suffered a shock 6-2, 6-3 defeat to Sam Stosur in the 2011 US Open final and she was once again on the receiving end of a penalty point.
Break point down in the opening game of the second set, Williams produced what looked like a forehand winner and it was accompanied by a “Come on!” shout.
Chair umpire Eva Asderaki felt her scream came before her opponent had a chance to get to the ball and, as a result, gave a penalty point against Williams.
The American was furious and told the official during the changeover: “You’re out of control” and “You’re a hater, and you’re just unattractive inside.”
Fabio Fognini – 2014 Wimbledon
Fabio Fognini is known for losing his head and he certainly crossed the line during his first-round win over Alex Kuznetsov.
Upset after several calls went against him, the fiery Italian threw his racket and received a penalty point, but that was not the end of that as he verbally abused both the chair umpire and the supervisor while he also made an obscene gesture towards his opponent Kuznetsov.
He was fined roughly £20,000 in total for his meltdown.
Fognini’s rap sheet also includes a two-year suspended ban for calling a female umpire “w****” and a “c***-s***er” in Italian during a 2017 US Open loss, which resulted in his disqualification from the tournament, while he was also hit with multiple fines after saying he wished a “bomb” would explode at Wimbledon during a first-round match at Wimbledon in 2019.
Karolina Pliskova – 2021 Australian Open
It is not often players receive a penalty point when they are off-court, but that is what happened to Karolina Pliskova at the 2021 Australian Open against Karolina Muchova.
The Czech received a code violation for racket abuse during the first set and after the set she took a comfort break and smashed her racket in the tunnel, something Pliskova thought she was allowed to do.
“I can do what I want off court!” she told umpire Alison Hughes.
The official replied: “Yes, but you’re still not allowed to do it.”
Pliskova answered: “Why not? Off-court I can do what I want!”
She ended up losing 7-5, 7-5.
Stefanos Tsitsipas – 2022 Wimbledon
It was one of the most-heated clashes at Wimbledon in recent years as Stefanos Tsitsipas and Nick Kyrgios squared off. Many expected Kyrgios to lose his cool, but instead it was Tsitsipas who was hit with a point penalty and he went on to lose the match.
Make no mistake, Kyrgios had been handed penalty points many a time, but Tsitsipas overstepped the mark when he smashed a ball into the crowd, nearly hitting a spectator. Kyrgios wanted a default, but it was not forthcoming and he called the chair umpire’s decision “a disgrace”.
In the third set, Kyrgios served underarm and the Greek smashed the ball against the back wall and received a penalty point.
The Australian won the match 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6, but both were hit with big fines after the match and Tsitsipas infamously called his opponent a “bully” during his post-match press conference.
