Famous Feuds in Tennis History

Well since some people don't like Davis Cup and boo to them, here is something that I found in a tennis mag and it was written by Paul Fein about famous tennis feuds.

This has been copied from the magazine onto here and the only thing adjusted was about Muster and the banana incident, the player was Felix Mantilla, he dropped the ball on a few of them, but overall it was worth typing it up.

Yes, there were female ones as well, but I am not going to talk about that on this blog. Make of these little feuds what you will.


Famous Feuds in Tennis History

I stumbled across this article and thought it was interesting and since I don’t deal with the rubbish WTA. I will type out the ones relating to the ATP, though they did miss some of the good stuff for sure.

The Bad Boy vs. The Brat

It was hate at first sight when Connors who had reigned with Björn Borg during most of the 1970s, confronted McEnroe, an equally fiery Irish-American. Proud and pugnacious, Connors resented the outrageously talented punk and at the 1979 Grand Prix Masters, dismissively predicted, “Remember he’s still a young boy. McEnroe will be good practice for me.” Connors retired after trailing 7-5 3-0 to signal the changing of the guard.

The younger (by six years) McEnroe came out on top 20-13 in their often controversial matches, although Connors led 8-7 in GS titles. However their verbal volleys were even and always entertaining. When McEnroe hectored officials during their 1980 Wimbledon semi final, Connors blasted, “My son is better behaved than you. I’ll bring him to play you.” McEnroe confided, “There were times on court when I wanted to beat Connors so bad. I felt I could easily strangle him.”

By 1984, a mellower Connors was winning over crowds with quips instead of alienating them with vulgarity, while irascible McEnroe inspired a love-hate relationship with the fans. “I don’t know that I have changed all that much. They just found somebody worse,” was Jimbo’s memorable zinger.

Mac wasn’t buying the nice-guy image Connors cultivated late in his career and fired back, “I don’t think I could ever be that phoney.”

In 2005, the long-time antagonists agreed to share the BBC broadcasting for Wimbledon. Would that little booth be big enough for these two combustible characters? You cannot be serious! It never happened

The Egoist vs. The Underdog

If 1970s’ champion Guillermo Vilas was a god in Argentina, Guillermo Coria is the current people’s choice. He’s so beloved in his homeland that when he appears in restaurants he gets standing ovations. Ironically, he’s far less popular with other players, including his fellow countrymen, whom he nearly always beats (23-5 at the last count). Coria has been known to mock his opponents after he wins and seldom gives them credit when he loses.

Like oil and water, Coria and kinsman Gaston Gaudio will never mix. They come from different family backgrounds and have different approaches to tennis and life. Coria was groomed from birth to be the greatest tennis player of his generation with his tennis coach dad naming him after Vilas.

Gaudio enjoyed football and rugby in his childhood and only picked up tennis because his older brother was playing at the time. He decided to turn pro only after his father had a heart attack, and the family experienced money problems, believing that tennis could help relieve their financial stresses.

Like Connors, Coria feeds on rivalries to fuel his competitiveness. Only someone with a superiority complex would rent a hotel for the anticipated victory celebrations before the 2004 French Open final, as Coria did. Lo and behold, he lost to the No.44-ranked Gaudio, who was so shocked that he confided, “I don’t know how I win. I can’t believe it yet. This is like a movie for me. And I don’t even know it, but I’m the star.”

In complete contrast, Gaudio finds it hard to compete against those he regards as friends such as Mariano Zabaleta, Juan Ignacio Chela, Carlos Moya and Lleyton Hewitt. A self-confessed perfectionist, he often says he’d rather play well than win.

The bad blood between these two 175cm opposites started in the 2001 Viña del Mar final which Coria captured. They celebrated points by glaring at each other. A week later the simmering feud heated up when they collided in the Buenos Aires quarter finals. In low voices they exchanged nasty remarks. After Gaudio won, he unfurled an Independiente flag (the football team he passionately supports) and jogged towards Esteban Cambiasso, the team’s star who was celebrating Gaudio’s triumph. Coria swears that, while Gaudio was going towards Cambiasso, he “hit” him in the face with part of the flag.

The most bitter confrontation happened after Coria prevailed in the 2003 Hamburg semi final. Coria asked for the trainer when Gaudio was gaining momentum going into the second set tiebreaker. After the short treatment Gaudio took the tiebreaker, but Coria, without showing any signs of cramping or any other injury, won the deciding set 6-0. When Coria limped to the net to shake hands, a provoked Gaudio insulted him by saying, “You are a ghost.”

Since then the two have managed a détente of sorts, perhaps due to the calming influence of Coria’s wife Carla, although Gaudio admitted that he initially thought Coria was again faking cramps in the 2004 Roland Garros final. Their animosity resurfaced at the 2005 World Team Cup when Coria withdrew from his round robin singles match against the two-time defending champions Chile, claiming his shoulder was injured. “I’m fed up, one has to tell the truth,” fumed Gaudio. “This isn’t a team because there’s someone who makes decisions choosing what’s best for him. Coria and I were the best team, but if we were a real team this wouldn’t have happened.”

“Coria is selfish, because he’s extremely competitive,” says a local journalist. “Gaudio is too sincere, he will say what he thinks, and he is justifiably envious that the Argentine media and National Tennis Association treat Coria better. I predict the feud will remain the same. They won’t talk to each other, but they will bad mouth each other.”

The Almost- Champion vs. The Media

“Henman-mania” has been a blessing and a curse for Englishman Tim Henman, who, for much of his career, has endured local pressure to become the first British men’s Wimbledon champion since Fred Perry way back in 1936. Not quite talented enough, he made four semi-finals and four quarter-finals at the All England Tennis Club. Late in his tennis career, as hopes faded, the tabloids became merciless with headlines such as “No Pressure Timbo, But Choke Now, and We’ll Never Forgive You”. Henman held his fire for many years but finally lost his patience when he charged that, “Most journalists don’t know what they’re talking about. A lot of people agree with me.”


The Intimidator vs. The Jerk

Ivan Lendl once called Austrian Horst Skoff “the biggest jerk in tennis”. Skoff earned his reputation by always finding an excuse whenever he lost and insulting linespeople. Equally offensive, fellow Davis Cupper Thomas Muster got his kicks by trying to maim players with vicious bodyshots. Once when an opponent (Felix Mantilla, come on Paul do better research) was eating a banana during a changeover, he walked by grabbed it and ate it himself. In a 1996 match at Queens, Muster kept yelling “faggot” at Mark Woodforde, whose girlfriend was watching courtside. “I’m not Mr Nice Guy. “I’m a tough cookie,” bragged Muster.

As juniors Skoff took a lot of flak for being the smallest kid in the training camp and one day Muster and his pals put him into a box and taped it shut. Their hatred later became public when Muster criticised Skoff’s training habits in the Austrian press. Skoff fired back in telling reporters he didn’t like Muster’s demands of being paid for Davis Cup.

Footnote: Ronnie “Der Arschloch” Leigteb was Muster’s coach, manager and also an organiser of Davis Cup ties. Missed that one again Paul.

For years they wouldn’t talk to each other. Muster upped the ante by not dressing in the same locker room as Skoff, and in 1993 he refused to play Davis Cup if Skoff was on the team.

To his credit, Skoff gradually matured, but the scowling Muster, who won the 1995 Roland Garros and briefly gained the No. 1 ranking, never mellowed.

Ubaldo Scangatta, Italy’s leading tennis writer recalled an irate Muster after whipping Skoff in a contentious Florence final. “In the locker room and nobody else was there, but his masseur. Thomas told me, “I’d like one day to find myself within four walls alone with Horst and finally have a chance to hit him with a lot of punches until I knock him down.’”


The Role Model vs. The Outsider

“I swear every time I passed Connors in the locker room, it took all my will power not to punch him in the mouth. It’s sickening. He and Bill Riordan could be such a good part of tennis, when they have wrecked the whole game?” wrote Arthur Ashe, a stalwart of the ATP players’ union, his 1975 book “Arthur Ashe: Portrait in Motion”

Before their unforgettable 1975 Wimbledon final, Connors filed a $5 million lawsuit against Ashe for calling Connors “unpatriotic” for his refusal to join the US Davis Cup tea,. Bad blood between these two opposites, the admired leader and the brash rebel persisted throughout their careers. When journalist Peter Bodo asked Ashe, “Is Jimmy Connors really just an asshole?” Ashe replied “Yeah, but he’s my favourite asshole.”