- Jeff Tarango
Jeffrey Gail ("Jeff") Tarango (born
November 20 1968 ,Manhattan Beach, California ) is a former professionaltennis player from theUnited States .Career Summary
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. [ [http://www.atptennis.com/5/en/players/playerprofiles/?playernumber=T136] ATP|id=T136] He was runner-up in the men's doubles at the 1999French Open (partneringGoran 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 and refused to continue when umpire Bruno Rebeuh, after having ruled against him several times before (and not always correctly), called one of his serves out. 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 called for the officiating supervisor and asked for Rebeuh to be removed, and was denied, then he 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 to the controversy, Tarango's French wife Benedicte walked up to Rebeuh and slapped him twice in the face. [ [http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,22580561-12428,00.html The Advertiser: Sport's most embarrassing moments- no. 15. A wag and a slapper] ]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.
He still makes occasional appearances at professional events, including the 2008 USA F21 Futures event in Milwaukee. [ [http://www.itftennis.com/mens/players/activity.asp?player=10001362] ] and he also commentates for BBC Radio and in particular for their extended coverage on
BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra .References
Record in detail
Doubles titles (14)
Doubles finalist (12)
* 1994 - St. Poelten
* 1997 - Hong Kong
* 1998 - Auckland, Los Angeles
* 1999 -French Open
* 2000 - Auckland, Tokyo
* 2001 - Moscow, Stuttgart, Gstaad, Marseille, Stuttgart
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