The 2025 Australian Open is now just a few short weeks away with fans excited to see their favorite tennis stars return to action.
Tennis is nearly back, and the stars of the ATP Tour are gearing up to compete at the Australian Open next month.
Jannik Sinner won the 2024 Australian Open, taking down Daniil Medvedev for his maiden Grand Slam title in a thrilling final.
He had already made headlines during the tournament, as Sinner beat Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, shocking the ten-time champion.
There were several other impressive performances in Melbourne, such as Alexander Zverev’s victory over Carlos Alcaraz, that saw him qualify for the last four for the first time in four years.
Always a great tournament, and one that often brings controversy, as was the case 34 years ago.
1990 Australian Open: When John McEnroe became the first player to be disqualified from a Grand Slam in 27 years
American legend John McEnroe entered the 1990 Australian Open as the number four seed looking to take home his first title down under.
His first three rounds were a breeze, taking down Thierry Tulasne, Alexander Antonitsch, and Daniel Goldie without dropping a set.
It was his fourth-round match against Swede Mikael Pernfors that caused some problems for the seven-time Slam winner, as he quickly picked up several code violations.
- Code violation one – Unsportsmanlike conduct
- Code violation two – Racket abuse
- Code violation three – Verbal abuse
Leading by two sets to one, McEnroe was defaulted from the match and the tournament after his third code violation, leaving him and the Australian Open crowd in a state of shock.
McEnroe thought that he still had one more code violation to go before being defaulted, unaware that the threshold had been reduced from four to three prior to the tournament beginning.
The ever-controversial star was frustrated with the incident but has since taken responsibility for his behavior during the match.
“It was just one little four letter word,” he said.
“The guy could have let me off.
“Of course, I have to take responsibility for the whole incident.
“I truly believe, though, that if I had known the new rule, I would have contained myself.
“I sometimes went off the rails, but I always knew where I stood.”
He went on to say that he felt as if a default was unnecessary, at least on that occasion.
“I pushed it to the limit a lot, so I suppose that even though I don’t feel like I should have been defaulted, say, in that particular match,” he said.
“I’m sure there were a few others where I probably deserved to be.”
With his disqualification, McEnroe became the first player to be defaulted from a Grand Slam event since Willie Alvarez at the 1963 French Open, who was kicked out of the tournament after arguing with an umpire.
Have any other players been disqualified from Grand Slams in recent years?
It would be a push to suggest that McEnroe started a trend, but there have been a few players defaulted from Major tournaments since his outburst 34 years ago.
| Tournament | Player | Incident |
| 1995 French Open | Carsten Arriens | Hitting a linesmen with a thrown racket |
| 1995 Wimbledon | Jeff Tarrango | Earned two violations before walking off the court |
| 1995 US Open | Shuzo Matsuoka | Delay of play after severe cramping |
| 2000 French Open | Stefan Koubek | Threw his racket which hit a ball boy |
After a few bad years, tennis didn’t see a default in singles Grand Slams for two decades, when perhaps the greatest player of all time succumbed to the rules at the US Open in 2020.
Djokovic was trailing in the first set of his fourth-round match with Pablo Carreno Busta when he hit a ball out of frustration that struck a line judge’s throat.
The referees were forced to follow the rules and disqualified Djokovic from the match and the tournament.
The Serb lost all ranking points from the tournament and was fined the prize money he would have earned at the US Open.
Djokovic returned to New York in 2021, where he reached the final before losing to Medvedev in straight sets.
It remains one of the worst moments in the 24-time Slam winner’s career, and one that just like McEnroe he no doubt regrets to this day.
Djokovic will make his Grand Slam return at the 2025 Australian Open which begins on January 12.
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