Tennis
A tennis player killed a US Open referee with a terrible blow. And burst into tears right on the court
Drama by Stefan Edberg in the Grand Slam final.
Tennis is rightly considered the least traumatic sport due to the lack of contact struggle between rivals. But it is a big mistake to think that all participants in the game are safe.
Even at tournaments as high-profile as the US Open, tragedy can happen. The usual filing started a chain of events that led to death.
Killer ace
Exquisite possession of the first serve is an important weapon for a tennis player. Every year on the ATP tour there are players who can impress opponents and fans with this skill. In the last century, one of these was the Swede Stefan Edberg.
The six-time winner of the Grand Slam tournaments from a young age demonstrated some kind of inhuman power on the pitch, instilling fear in opponents. Alas, such agility led to irreversible consequences.
In 1983, Edberg was known as a promising junior. The 17-year-old boy won three junior majors and flew to the US to get the so-called calendar helmet. All that was left was to win the US Open.
The young man coped with this task excellently and confidently reached the final, in which he played against the Australian Simon Yule. The Scandinavian closed the first set in half an hour (6:2), and the fans were preparing to celebrate his next triumph. Yes, and Stefan himself, according to the testimony of the audience, felt relaxed.
Edberg did it all. And once again, on his pitch, he performed a crushing ace. Once in the court, the ball bounced right into the referee, who was working on the center line. Despite the rebound, the flight speed was gigantic, so that the linesman, who at that time was still working on a folding chair, fell face down.
Success that no one noticed
It seemed that such blows could not cause serious problems, but in this case, the referee, when falling, also hit his head on the hard surface of the court. After a few minutes, it became clear that everything was much more serious than it might seem. Judge Dick Wertheim was sent to the hospital where he underwent respiratory surgery.
The match could have been stopped as Edberg looked demoralized. The Swede burst into tears right on the court. Only a sedative from the doctors returned him to the game, which he nevertheless brought to victory (6:2, 6:4).
The athlete could not rejoice at the victory. Edberg went to the hospital to be near the victim. However, the judge never regained consciousness and after five days of struggling with severe head injuries, he died. Wertheim became the first person to be killed by a ball during a tennis match, and Edberg, at the age of 17, took on a heavy cross.
Extenuating circumstances
Proceedings have begun. First of all, with the US Tennis Association, which the family of 61-year-old Wertheim accused of poor security. However, the claim for 2.25 million dollars was not satisfied in full, awarding only 165,000 compensation.
During the investigation, a key thing was revealed: Wertheim had health problems, he suffered from atherosclerosis of the cerebral vessels. Moreover, Dick warned the tennis association that he was going to retire after the US Open-1983, but did not disclose the diagnosis.
The unwitting culprit of the tragedy after that could not recover for a long time and, according to the coach, had real problems with continuing his career already at an adult level. Fortunately, Edberg managed to achieve high results, not only in singles, but also in doubles. There he won three Grand Slam tournaments and was also the first racket of the world.
The experience at an early age made a certain contribution to the behavior of Stefan: it is no coincidence that he was called one of the most educated and cultured players on the tour. Even the Gentleman of the Year award in tennis was given the name of Stefan Edberg. A good example of how to deal with the most difficult trials.
Source: Sportbox
I am a sports journalist who has written for a number of Sportish. I have a background in journalism and have been writing since I was young. My main focus is sports news, but I also write about general news. I am currently working as an author at Sportish.