At Wimbledon in 1995 Jeffrey Gail Tarango was playing Alexander Mronz in the third round of the singles. Finding himself 6-7, 1-2 and break-point down, he was denied an ace when a line judge called a fault - only for umpire Bruno Rebeuh to overrule and declare a let. "No, that was an ace," Tarnago insisted. It was not, said the umpire. "Nonononononono, I've seen it on TV a million times, that was an ace," Tarango pleaded.

At this point, the crowd began to heckle with shouting, laughter and ilk. "Oh shut-up" was Tarango's tame response, prompting Rebeuh to demand some attention of his own. "Code violation," he announced. "Audible obscenity, Mr Tarango."

As the crowd cheered further, Tarango approached the chair. "How is that an audible obscenity," he queried, with good reason. "Well how come they can say whatever they want to me? Can you call a supervisor please?" he asked Rebeuh. "I have a big beef."

Tarnago continued his tirade: "You are the most corrupt official in the game and you can't do that!" he told Rebeuh, earning another code violation for verbal abuse, this time with a point penalty. "That's it. No way! That's it!" he ranted to increasing mirth, slamming down the balls in his hand made the finished gesture, grabbed his bag and stalked off court, the first person so to do in 109 years of Wimbledon history.

Rebueh, of course, snared the last word, defaulting Tarango who, by the press conference, was calm and focused. There, he explained a conspiracy whereby Rebeuh favoured certain players.

Tarango did, though, admit regret at stomping off, before hinting at something more elemental. "I don't feel that I should be pushed around for my whole life and let people take advantage of me," he said. "I just felt that I was backed into a corner and that I had no recourse for defending myself." Mrs Tarango did not bother with such prevarication, simply slapping Rebeuh across the face, twice. "I don't think it's bad," she said. "I think it's good, because this guy deserves a lesson at some point. He can do whatever he wants because he's in the chair. It's just not fair."