It was 20 years ago today, on January 21, 1990, that John McEnroe was defaulted from his round of 16 match at the Australian Open against Mikael Pernfors. Video of the event can be seen on these two clips from YOUTUBE here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-52G_eaAni4 and here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Z8IACYeL-c&feature=PlayList&p=7839D120564C40E0&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=18
This and other events that happened today in tennis history can be found below in this excerpt from the book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, www.TennisHistoryBook.com). Highlights include the first-ever pro meeting between the Williams sisters in 1998, Anna Kournikova hitting the most double faults in a pro match in 1999 and the swan song match of Pete Sampras at the Australian Open in 2002.
January 21
1990 – Saying “I don’t really have anyone to blame but myself,” John McEnroe becomes the first player in 27 years to be tossed out of a major tennis tournament for misconduct. Leading Sweden’s Mikael Pernfors 6-1, 4-6, 7-5, 2-4 in the round of 16 a the Australian Open, McEnroe is disqualified by chair umpire Gerry Armstrong after breaking a racquet and flurry of four-letter words. “This is like a long story that culminates in me getting defaulted in a big tournament,” McEnroe says in the post-match press conference. “I mean, I guess it was bound to happen. It’s too bad. I don’t feel good about it, but I can’t say that I’m totally surprised.” McEnroe is fined $6,500 for behavior in the match – $5,000 for racquet abuse, $500 for verbal abuse and $1,000 for the default. The previous disqualification came in 1963 when Colombian-born Spaniard Willie Alvarez is defaulted out of the French Championships.
1998 – In their first-ever confrontation at a sanctioned event, 17-year old Venus Williams defeats 16-year-old younger sister Serena 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the second round of the Australian Open. The two sisters go on to dominate tennis, winning multiple major titles in singles and doubles and, during a stretch between 2001 and 2003, play five major finals against each other. Says Venus of the second-round match, “I kept seeing Serena across the net. It was a little bit odd, but it is to be expected. In the future it will be the same… I feel good that I won. Even though it was Serena, I’m still a competitor. After the match I told her, ‘Serena, I’m sorry I took you out. I didn’t want to, but I had to do it.'” Says Serena, “It felt OK, I just tried to keep thinking of her as someone else. I tried to treat it as a normal match, I think in the end it was a normal match. I think we handled this very well. In the future we will be able to handle it even easier. If I had to lose in the second round, no better than to Venus.”
1988 – Chris Evert defeats rival Martina Navratilova 6-2, 7-5 to advance into the women’s singles final at the Australian Open, in what ultimately becomes her last appearance in a major singles final. Says Evert, “I was under no pressure at all; Martina had all the pressure on her. I’m always relaxed when I play Martina. She was No. 1 for so long. It is no crime to lose to her.” Top-seeded Steffi Graf loses the first two games at love but rallied to beat eighth-seeded Claudia Kohde-Kilsch 6-2, 6-3, in 45 minutes in the other women’s semifinal.
1999 – One round after hitting 23 double faults in the first round of the Australian Open, Anna Kournikova serves 31 double faults – the most recorded in a professional match – in a 1-6, 6-4, 10-8 second round win over Japan’s Miho Saeki. Says Kournikova of her serving troubles, “I’m really frustrated about it, just like everybody who’s watching. In practice, I feel fine. I serve normal and there’s no sign of doubles faults, but when I come to the line when I play, there is something happening. I’m just going to have to get over it and try to fight through, just like I did today.”
2007 – Defending champion Amelie Mauresmo is ousted in the fourth round of the Australian Open by unseeded Lucie Safarova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 6-3. The 19-year-old Safarova enters the match having won just one match in six previous major tournaments. “It’s amazing. I still can’t believe it,” says Safarova, ranked No. 70. “I’m so happy. It’s incredible.” Svetlana Kuznetsova, the 2004 U.S. Open champion and the No. 3 seed, is also dismissed from the tournament, losing 6-4, 6-2 to Shahar Peer of Israel.
2002 – Pete Sampras plays what ultimately becomes his final match at the Australian Open, losing in the fourth round to Marat Safin 6-2, 6-4, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (10-8). Sampras trails 2-4 in the third set, but rallies to nearly take the match to a fifth set. Says Safin, ”It would not be very nice to go five sets with Pete, because you never know.”
2008 – Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia and Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland advance into the quarterfinals of the Australian Open with remarkable comeback victories. Hantuchova fights back from a 6-1, 4-1 deficit – winning at one point 17 straight points – to defeat Russian Maria Kirilenko 1-6, 6-4, 6-4, while Radwanksa comes back from a 6-1, 3-0 hole to beat Nadia Petrova of Russia 1-6, 7-5, 6-0. Radwanska, who becomes the first Polish woman to reach the quarterfinals of a major championship, benefits from Petrova straining her groin, which severely hampers her play. “I was losing 6-1, 3-0 and I was thinking, ‘what am I doing wrong?”says Radwanska, who upset No. 2 seed Svetlana Kuznetsova in the third round. “It was so quick and she was using the wind very well, and I wasn’t. I think that was the most important point in this match. Then I started to play, try to do something else. It was very long games and I won the second set. It was so close. In the third set, I don’t know what she was doing, but it’s not a question for me.”
1997 – In the first-ever match where a retractable roof was closed due to extreme heat, Carlos Moya defeats fellow Spanaird Felix Mantilla 7-5, 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-2 in the quarterfinals of the Australian Open. With temperatures hitting over 100 degrees in the shade and over 140 degrees on court, Australian Open Referee Peter Bellenger orders the roof closed.