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Kuerten's tantrum
Defending champ apologizes for tossing racket at umpire
Posted: Wednesday June 03, 1998 10:18 AM
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Kuerten: "I'm so sorry for what happened and I regret what I did" (AP) |
PARIS (AP) -- Defending French Open singles champion Gustavo Kuerten apologized Wednesday for throwing his racket at an umpire, saying he hopes the incident "will make me a more mature guy."
Kuerten, voted by the media last year as the player they liked best, was disqualified in a doubles match Tuesday night for hurling his racket at umpire Bruno Rebeuh.
The racket hit a fan sitting behind Rebeuh, but the fan apparently was not hurt.
"I'm so sorry for what happened and I regret what I did," the Brazilian said in a prepared statement. "I know that this will make me a more mature guy and will make me grow. I want to make it clear that I never had the intention of hurting anyone on or off the court."
The outburst by Kuerten, who faces a fine, evoked memories of a racket-throwing tantrum that led to John McEnroe being tossed out of the 1990 Australian Open.
Kuerten, who made a storybook run to the men's title last year as an unseeded player and became a fan favorite at Roland Garros, was knocked out in singles last week in the second round.
He was teamed with fellow Brazilian Fernando Meligeni in a doubles match against Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman and Australia's Patrick Rafter on the Suzanne Lenglen Court on Tuesday evening.
"At the end of the first set tiebreaker, he threw his racket that went just past the chair umpire and went into the stands, hitting someone in the stands," said Stefan Fransson, a Grand Slam supervisor, who witnessed the incident. "He threw it from around the service line."
There had been disputes about line calls during the tiebreaker, which the Brazilians lost.
"Fernando and I were playing good tennis, even after the mistakes the chair umpire made," Kuerten said. "I tried to relieve my tension by throwing the racket in the direction of my chair. It escaped and went toward the chair umpire. I know I made a mistake and that the racket's place is in my hand."
Tournament referee Gilbert Ysern said he was unsure whether Kuerten could be suspended for throwing the racket at Rebeuh, who was not available for comment after the incident.
"Hopefully, we can give him the benefit of the doubt and think that he didn't really aim at killing the chair umpire by throwing the racket at him," Ysern said.
Ysern said the fan hit by the racket apparently was not hurt. Witnesses said the fan was hit in the shoulder.
"'He lost his mind a little bit," Ysern said. "The chair umpire could have been hit, maybe hurt by the racket. It's obviously a serious situation. It's a serious case."
At the 1990 Australian Open, McEnroe was disqualified for throwing a racket, an incident that led to $6,500 in fines. McEnroe only threw his racket to the court, however.
At Wimbledon in 1995, Rebeuh also was involved when American Jeff Tarango stormed off court in the middle of a match. He accused Rebeuh of favoritism, and Tarango's wife slapped Rebeuh.
That incident resulted in a fine and a one-year suspension from Wimbledon for Tarango.
Germany's Carsten Arriens was defaulted from the 1995 French Open when he threw his racket on the ground and it bounced up and hit a line judge.
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