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Mats Wilander

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Tennis Player

The Resume

    (August 22, 1964- )
    Born in Vaxjo, Sweden
    Won three Australian Opens (1983-84,1988), three French Opens (1982,1985,1988) and one US Open (1988)
    With Joakim Nystrom won men's doubles at Wimbledon (1986)
    Coached Marat Safin
    Inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame (2002)

Why he might be annoying:

    After winning three Grand Slam events in 1988 to become the top-ranked player, he lost his sense of motivation and dropped out of the top ten within a year: 'When I got there, the balloon exploded. I didn't feel I was playing for the right reasons anymore.'
    He was booed by the home crowd when he defaulted the fifth match in the Davis Cup against West Germany (1989).
    He formed a band and went on tour, prompting the critic for Sweden's largest newspaper to write, 'All people have the right to enjoy a hobby, but there is a limit -- like charging $15 for a show like this.'
    He was suspended from tennis for three months after testing positive for cocaine (1995).
    After he claimed Roger Federer 'came out with no balls' duing a loss to Rafael Nadal, some tennis fans adopted 'Wilanders' as a euphemism for balls (2006).

Why he might not be annoying:

    Holding match point in the 1982 French Open semi-finals, he declared that opponent Jose Luis Clerc's shot was good after the officials had called it out. (He won the match when the point was replayed.)
    He had a reservation for Pan Am Flight 103, which was destroyed over Scotland by a terrorist bomb, but at the last minute decided not to take the flight (1988).
    He raises funds for research into the skin disease epidermolysis bullosa, which his son Erik suffers from.
    He moved from Connecticut to Sun Valley, Idaho, because the cool, dry air helps Erik's skin condition.
    Despite his wealth, for several weeks a year, he and a business partner drive a Winnebago around the US, offering lessons at tennis clubs and private homes.

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 81.82% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 7 Votes: 71.43% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 13 Votes: 53.85% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 31 Votes: 25.81% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 14 Votes: 57.14% Annoying