Tennis’ most notorious defaults

It’s not that easy to get defaulted from a tennis match. You might lose a point here or there for an audible obscenity, but a straight default? You’ve got to do something pretty bad.

In homage to Denis Shapovalov doing something ‘pretty bad’ in his Davis Cup match, we take a look back at a few of tennis’ most notorious defaults.

2017: Denis Shapovalov’s umpire blues

This had to hurt. Denis Shapovalov was defaulted (and as a result lost the Davis Cup tie for Canada v Great Britain) when he launched this rocket into the umpire’s face.

RELATED: Shapovalov defaulted for hitting umpire in face

2012: David Nalbandian kicked out of Queen’s

Argentinian bad boy David Nalbandian was DQ’d from one of the world’s most exclusive tennis clubs after he took a chunk out of a line judge’s leg during the 2012 final.

1995: Henman’s Wimbledon balls-up

In 1995 British golden boy Tim Henman was sensationally defaulted at the All England Club during a doubles match. His crime? Walloping a ball kid after his serve was broken.

2010: Stefan Koubek chokes… his opponent

Most players shake their opponent’s hands. Stefan Koubek decided to grab Daniel Kollerer and choke him instead. The result? An automatic disqualification.

2014: Darian King lashes out

It’s kind of hard to figure out what happens here. Darian King claims he hit the back curtain, the line judge goes down like she got shot. Whatever it was, it didn’t look too great and King was defaulted.

1990: John McEnroe cannot be serious

Undoubtedly one of the most notorious moments in Grand Slam history saw John McEnroe defaulted for an audible obscenity at the 1990 Australian Open.

2013: Olga Puchkova’s line judge missile

Think Denis Shapovalov, just on a lesser scale. Olga Puchkova was already in a spot of bother against Paula Ormaechea when she pressed the self-destruct button and tried to break a line judge.