Doing some Wiki research about some stars of Chile. Tennis player Marcelo Rios- what a legend…
Ríos’ career has been marked by a number of controversies.
- After achieving the number one in singles, an Argentine reporter ask him what it felt like to be at the same status as Guillermo Vilas; he answered “Vilas was No. 2 and I’m No. 1.”[citation needed]
- He was fined US$10,000 for speeding during the 1998 Stuttgart tournament.[7]
- In a confusing incident, he ran over his physical trainer, Manuel Astorga, with his jeep, leaving him gravely injured at the foot. Astorga was later fired as trainer.[7]
- After a magazine published some photos of him dancing seductively with a woman at a Paris disco, his girlfriend (later to be his first wife), Giuliana Sotela, broke up with him. During a Davis Cup press conference, Ríos read a letter, asking Sotela for forgiveness. He ended the press conference in tears.[8]
- He was accused by his second wife, María Eugenia Larraín, of throwing her out of his car while driving to visit his daughter in Costa Rica. Larraín arrived to Santiago’s airport in dramatic fashion, in a wheelchair and showing multiple bruises on her legs. He claimed those bruises were caused by falling while skiing.[7]
- He was arrested in Rome in 2001 after he punched a taxi driver in the nose and then had a fight with the policemen arresting him.[8]
- In 2003, while training for a Davis Cup tie with Ecuador, he allegedly urinated on some men in a La Serena bar’s bathroom and was later expelled from his hotel after being accused of swimming nude. As a consequence, the Chilean team missed a flight to Ecuador the following day. He later apologized for the incidents.[7][9]
- In 2003, he and a friend were expelled from a Santiago bar after insulting other clients and being involved in a brawl with some waiters. Both were arrested and later released.[7]
- He reportedly told Monica Seles to move her “fat ass” while on a lunch queue, but he has denied this.[8]
- During the 1997 Wimbledon tournament he commented that grass was for “cows and soccer” and not suitable for tennis play.[8]
- He was disqualified from the 2000 Mercedes-Benz Cup tennis tournament in Los Angeles, California during a first round match withGouichi Motomura of Japan and fined US$5,000 for saying “fuck you” to the chair umpire.[8]
- During a post-match interview at the Basel tournament, he insulted a journalist under his breath after she asked him whether he had Native American ancestry.[10]
- He tried to moon some reporters who were recording him while partying outside his apartment in Reñaca.[8]
- He fired his coach Larry Stefanki shortly after he became World No. 1, claiming that he wanted to go in a different direction.
- He won the Prix Citron ‘award’ several different years (many in a row) for being the most disagreeable player on tour.