Jeff Tarango
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jeffrey Gail ("Jeff") Tarango (b. November 11, 1968, in Manhattan Beach, California) is a former professional tennis player from the United States.
Tarango turned professional in 1989, after completing his junior year at Stanford University where he won two NCAA team titles. During his career, he won 2 top-level professional singles titles and 14 doubles titles. His career-high world rankings were World No. 42 in singles and No. 10 in doubles. He was runner-up in the men's doubles at the 1999 French Open (partnering Goran Ivanišević).
But Tarango is probably best remembered not for his achievements as a tennis player, but for his temper. He had numerous on-court temper tantrums during his career, and more than once chose to default a match in protest at umpiring decisions he disagreed with.
The most famous incident Tarango was involved in came at Wimbledon in 1995. During a third round match in which he was trailing against Alexander Mronz, Tarango became infuriated when umpire Bruno Rebeuh, after having ruled against him several times before (and not always correctly), called one of his serves out and refused to continue. Tarango shouted: "That's it, I'm not playing", and turned to Rebeuh and yelled: "You are one of the most corrupt officials in the game and you cannot get away with this". He then packed his bags and stormed off the court, defaulting the match. He shouted at the crowd to "Shut up", when they jeered at him as he was leaving. To add the controversy, Tarango's French wife Benedicte walked up to Rebeuh and slapped him twice in the face. Tarango was fined US$63,000 for the incident, and banned for two Grand Slam tournaments, including the following year's Wimbledon.
Tarango retired from the professional tour in 2002, and now devotes his time to coaching.
