Controversial former tennis pro Daniel Koellerer has said he was inspired to start drinking alcohol after watching one of his former rivals on the tour at the Australian Open.
The 36-year-old has alleged that Russia’s Marat Safin was drunk during his clash with Thomas Johansson in the 2002 final. Safin, who was seeded ninth in the draw, lost in four tight sets to the Swede. According to Koellerer, the Russian had been drinking heavily the night before to celebrate his birthday.
“The first time I started drinking alcohol I was like 24 and I just started because I saw Marat Safin drinking before he played the Australian Open final.” Koellerer said during a recent interview.
“I said ‘ok, now I am all the time between 150-180 and I don’t get up, and this guy is playing the Australian Open final, he is so drunk he can’t even walk on his two feet, cannot be that bad.'”
“He could never win because he was so drunk, that was unbelievable. The night before he was celebrating his birthday. For me he looked like he was celebrating he already won already the Australian Open.”
Former world No.1 Safin was renowned for his occasional party antics during his time as a player. After defeating Pete Sampras in the final of the 2000 US Open he celebrated at a disco with singer Lenny Kravitz. Drinking champagne and vodka throughout the night. The following day he had to conduct media commitments after just one hour of sleep.
Kollerer’s claims are disputed given his track record on the tour. A former world No.55 player, he has been caught up in numerous controversies throughout his career. Nicknamed ‘crazy Dani’ he was suspended for six-months in 2006 for his bad behaviour. In another incident, he was accused of being racist by another player. Speaking about his behaviour, Koellerer said it was partly because of how he was trained at a younger age.
“I was trained to behave like this and after 4 years I couldn’t stop doing it. Now I know that I did a lot of bad things to other rivals both on and off the court. Now, that it has been more than 10 years, I’m sorry to behave like this.” He said.
“He (the coach) punished me with more exercise if I didn’t provoke my rivals in the games. After that, I could not change any more. When I hired another coach, he told me that he could not continue like this and punished me with 2 hours of cycling if I did something wrong. The first week I was 16 hours on the bike, but then I got better although my game got worse. I no longer had tension because if I broke my racket I was riding the bike and I wasn’t Armstrong.”
The ban
In May 2011 Koellerer became the first player in history to be banned for life after an investigation found him guilty of match-fixing violations between October 2009 – July 2010. The investigation, conducted by the Tennis integrity Unit, also fined him $100,000 for match-fixing offences. He lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The CAS upheld the ban in 2012, saying in a statement that ‘The panel ruled that the tennis governing bodies had met their burden of proof’. They did, however rule that he didn’t have to pay the $100,000 fine as ‘he didn’t financially benefit’ from the charges.
However, the Austrian has maintained his innocence throughout the allegations. Saying that the action was taken because it was the the only way the ATP could remove him from the tour. He has also said that he had reported incidents when he was offered money to throw matches on purpose.
“In 50 years, when I have only 3 minutes left to live, I will say the same. The ATP expelled me and used that because it was the only way to get rid of me.” Koellerer insists.
“There were tennis players who pointed to me without proof. A player recognized that I had never met him, said that I called him to rig a game. If I never met him, how could he know it was me?’
Still banned for life from the sport, Koellerer says he still has a love for tennis and would even return to the tour if his ban was to be ever lifted. Comparing himself to somebody who has been falsely accused of a crime.
“I have several operations on my wrists and others on my back. I am far from being able to be a tennis player but if tomorrow my phone rang, I would go to the first tournament I could. It’s like the murderer who is in the jail, knowing that he did nothing and wishing that one day they would tell him that they found the real murderer to be able to leave. Tennis has been my whole life and is still within my heart. “
Full interview
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vMc6G7D3ghw
