Venus Williams, 2017
It was the scandal that wasn’t – earlier this year, former women’s number one Venus Williams was accused of causing a car crash that resulted in the death of a passenger in the car she hit. But weeks later she was cleared of responsibility.
On June 9, Venus was driving her SUV through an intersection in Florida, when another car collided with Venus’ vehicle.
Seventy-eight-year-old passenger Jerome Barson suffered serious injuries and died in hospital two weeks later, leaving an uninjured Venus distraught.
“There are really no words to describe how devastating it is – I’m completely speechless,” Venus said at a press conference at Wimbledon a few days after the crash.
Venus was initially accused of running a red light and was sued for wrongful death by the estate of the deceased. However, CCTV evidence came to light that proved
the tennis star was “driving legally” and she was cleared of any wrongdoing.
Maria Sharapova, 2016
Maria Sharapova has long been the least-admired tennis player among her peers, but even the sport’s top echelon were shocked when the Russian was barred from the sport for two years, following a positive drug test for the banned substance meldonium.
Maria had been taking the medication legally for 10 years. It was initially designed for heart patients but it also boosts endurance and stamina, and was added to the list of banned substances on January 1, 2016. Just weeks later the star failed a test at the Australian Open.
Maria admitted she received a letter in late 2015 advising her of the changes, but said she did not read it. “I take great responsibility in my job every day. I made a huge mistake,” she said at a press conference.
“I’ve let my fans down, I’ve let this sport down. I know that with this I face consequences and I don’t want to end my career this way. I hope I will be given another chance to play this game again.”
Maria appealed her two-year ban, which was eventually reduced to 15 months. She returned to the court this April.
Monica Seles, 1993
In 1993, then world number one Monica Seles, aged only 19, was competing in a minor tournament in Germany when her life was changed in an instant.
During changeover, 38-year-old Gunter Parche leaned over the seats next to the court and stabbed the teenager with a knife as she sat down to towel off and take a sip of water.
“I felt a horrible pain in my back,” she wrote in her 2009 autobiography. “I saw a man wearing a baseball cap, a sneer across his face. His hands were clutching a long knife. He started to lunge at me again. I didn’t understand what was happening.”
Parche was tackled by members of the crowd before he could stab Monica again, leaving her with a wound an inch and a half deep. It was two years until she played competitively again and she only won one major after the incident. She retired in 2008.
Boris Becker, 1999
When it comes to tennis scandals, Boris Becker’s brush with infamy has to be the most ridiculous.
It was June 1999, and having just crashed out of Wimbledon, losing to Pat Rafter, the German athlete decided a night on the town was just the ticket – despite the fact his seven months pregnant wife Barbara Feltus was in hospital suffering from Braxton Hicks contractions.
He went to celebrity hotspot Nobu, where he spotted Angela Ermakova, a Russian model. One thing led to another and the pair ended up having sex on the stairs of the restaurant in between the bathrooms – not in a broom cupboard, as what was widely reported.
Boris had sex with Russian model Angela, who became pregnant to the star.
Angela became pregnant following their sordid romp and gave birth to a daughter, Anna.
His five minutes of adultery cost the athlete his marriage, his reputation and almost $40m in divorce settlementsand child support.
“I felt very guilty, very ashamed,” he said in 2009.
“It was my last day of tennis, now I’ve cheated on my wife. I live and learn. It cost my marriage, it cost for the next couple of years my private life but having Anna is not a mistake any more.”
Andre Agassi, 1997
Crystal meth was Andre’s downfall in 1997.
He was the undisputed star of world tennis for years, but tennis was rocked in 2009 when Andre Agassi admitted to using methamphetamine just two years after claiming the world number one ranking in 1995.
Making the shock claims in his autobiography Open, Andre detailed his first experience of taking crystal meth in 1997, when he was suffering poor form and preparing
to marry actress Brooke Shields.
“There is a moment of regret, followed by vast sadness,” he wrote. “Then comes a tidal wave of euphoria that sweeps away every negative thought in my head.”
Later that same year, the drug was picked up in his system following a routine test.
Andre admitted lying in a letter to tennis’ governing body, where he claimed to have accidentally injected his assistant’s soda which was spiked with the drug.
He avoided any ban and vowed never to take the drug again.
