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.
Ukrainian tennis player Yulia Starodubtseva (WTA 110) She completed her campaign at the 2026 Australian Open.
The Ukrainian player was defeated in three sets in the first round Family Tomljanovic (Australia, WTA 78) in 2 hours 33 minutes.
Australian Open 2026. 1/64 finals
Yulia Starodubtseva (Ukraine) [Q] – Ayla Tomljanovic (Australia) – 6:4, 6:7 (3:7), 1:6
Starodubtseva held her second head-to-head match against Tomljanovic. In 2025, Yulia lost to Ayla at the start of the WTA 1000 competition in Beijing.
Starodubtseva started with the qualifiers at the Australian Open, where she managed to defeat Alice Tubello, Despina Papamikhail and Victoria Tomova.
Yulia played on the courts of Melbourne for the third time in her career and has not yet managed to get past the first round of the main draw.
Tomljanovic will play in the 1/32 final against Elena-Gabriela Ruse, who knocked out Ukrainian Dayana Yastremska the previous day.
In addition to Starodubtseva and Yastremskaya, Marta Kostyuk also left the Australian slam from the Ukrainian representatives. So far, the only Ukrainian who has managed to advance to the second round of AO-2026 is Elina Svitolina. Angelina Kalinina and Alexandra Oleynikova will start at the Major on the 20th.
Video review of the match
Photo gallery of the match
Source: Sport UA
I am a sports journalist who has worked in print and online. I have authored articles for a sports website and have covered sports news for over 6 years.
Tennis
Fainting in the hellish heat. The Russian tennis player’s match at the Australian Open turned into drama
Alexandrova’s strong act drew thunderous applause from the stands.
The Australian Open began with a dramatic incident in a match involving Russian tennis player Ekaterina Alexandrova. The game, in conditions of hellish heat, had to be urgently stopped due to an incident that even precautions could not prevent.
“You don’t feel good”
Alexandrova came to Melbourne with the hope of a good result, and there were all the prerequisites for this. The Russian tennis player is currently ranked 11th in the WTA rankings. In the first round match, she was considered a big favorite, because her opponent Zeynep Sönmez had never risen above 69th place in the world rankings in her career. Before the Australian Open, she was not even in the top 100, but made it into the main draw through qualification.
The start of the match was left to Ekaterina, she was one game away from winning the first game. But the Russian woman managed to give the set to her opponent with a score of 5:2, losing five games in a row. The next segment didn’t start easily either. Our athlete allowed her opponent to make a break in the first game.
But by the ninth game, Alexandrova managed to straighten out the situation. She served for the set, with two rallies left to win. But when the score was 40:40, the game had to be stopped urgently. The girl serving the balls near the referee’s tower suddenly fell. She became ill in the Melbourne heat, despite wearing protective headgear. The temperature that day reached 28 degrees. The victim stood up, but had difficulty staying on her feet.
– She felt very bad. She said she was fine, but it was very obvious that she wasn’t. So I went up to her and said: “Sit down and drink something, you don’t feel well,” the BBC quoted Sönmez as saying.
On the way to the chair, the girl felt worse in Zeynep’s arms, which led to loss of consciousness. Alexandrova did not immediately notice the incident, since it happened on the side of the Turkish woman, but when she saw it, she also decided to help. She reached into the refrigerator and pulled out a cold towel. Doctors quickly arrived to the victim, brought the girl to her senses and took her to a room under the stands. The stands responded to the action of the tennis players and doctors with applause.
“Being a good person is more important”
The dramatic incident brought down the mood of our tennis player. She gave away two rallies in a row, allowing her opponent to make a break and reduce the gap to a minimum. But Alexandrova immediately took her opponent’s serve, which led to her victory in the second set with a score of 6:4.
It seemed that Sönmez’s resistance would be broken, especially since Ekaterina took the lead in the decisive period with a score of 3:0. But out of the next seven games, the Russian was able to take only one, losing 4:6, which led to her unexpected departure in the first round of the tournament.
After the victory, the Turkish woman attracted a lot of attention from the press thanks to the timely assistance provided to the girl, but Zeynep is very modest. At the same time, the Turkish tennis player chose the very right words.
“When we were walking, she lost consciousness, and, fortunately, I caught her. She was shaking very badly. “I always say that being a good person is more important than being a good tennis player,” the BBC quotes Sönmez as saying.
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.
Tennis
Russian tennis player Selekhmetyeva advanced to the second round of the Australian Open for the first time
Russian Oksana Selekhmetyeva reached the second round of the main draw at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in her career, beating German Ella Seidel in the first round of the Australian Open in Melbourne.
The meeting ended with the victory of the Russian tennis player with a score of 6:3, 3:6, 6:0. The match lasted 1 hour 47 minutes.
Selekhmetyeva, ranked 101st in the WTA rankings, will play in the second round with the winner of the match Zarina Diyas (Kazakhstan, WC) – Paula Badosa (Spain, 25).
Grand Slam Tournament. Australian Open. Melbourne (Australia). Hard. Total prize fund: about $75 million
Women. First round
Oksana Selekhmetyeva (Russia) — Ella Seidel (Germany) — 6:3, 3:6, 6:0.
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.
-
Ligue 13 years agoRenato Sanchez signed in Paris for five years
-
Europa League4 years agoIn transfer alert at Olympiakos for additions and concessions
-
Europa League4 years agoFenerbahce – Eintracht 1: 1: The Germans took 1st place in the Olympiacos group
-
Europa League4 years agoWithout Nainggolan and Samata, the 11th team from Antwerp
-
Europa League4 years agoEuropa League
-
Europa League4 years agoAtalanta announced the acquisition of Boga
-
Europa League4 years agoFears that Zapata will be out for 4 months
-
Premier League4 years agoExcept for the rest of January, Sean was injured