Badboy Klein Gets Penalized Again

Written by: Staff on 6th October 2010

Badboy Klein Gets Penalized Again

Viktorija Rajicic and Captain Chris Mahony (Australia) |

Brydan Klein, Australia’s enfant terrible of tennis who got involved in a disrespectful spat with former Wimbledon and US Open finalist Mark Philippoussis and was then suspended for racially abusing an opponent, has had any form of funding officially terminated by Tennis Australia.

Klein, 20, lost his AIS scholarship after being sanctioned by the ATP World Tour for calling South African Raven Klaasen a ”kaffir” at Eastbourne last June. The former Aussie Open boys champion from Perth was fined $Aus14,000 and suspended for a six-month term that was reduced by a third after he completed a racial sensitivity course.

He returned to competition last November, accepting the fact he was on his last warning. But clearly he took negligible heed of his parlous position and Todd Woodbridge, Tennis Australia’s Head of Men’s Tennis, had no option but to take the hard line. ”Some time ago we sat down with Brydan and discussed what he needed to do both on and off court to improve his tennis and to continue getting support from Tennis Australia,” Woodbridge said.

”As with all the athletes we set strict guidelines, especially in terms of our expectations of his behavior on and off the court.

”Unfortunately over a period of time Brydan has been unable to do that and is no longer receiving Tennis Australia support.

”He will need to show he can consistently achieve that appropriate level of behavior, as well as achieve certain other performance criteria, before being considered for support again.”

Recently Klein has been practicing with fellow Australian Davis Cup squad member John Millman while the player’s long-time coach Milo Bradley has benefited from Tennis Australia funding.

Klein is currently ranked 258 in the world, making him Australia’s no.10. Since losing in the first round of qualifying at the U.S.Open, he has been playing on the Australian Futures circuit, reaching a semi-final in Darwin and the quarters in Alice Springs.

Earlier in 2010 he lost in the first round of Australian Open qualifying but went on to win Futures titles in Little Rock, Arkansas and closer to home in Queensland, he was victorious at both Ipswich and Bundaberg.

Topics: Alice Springs, Atp World Tour, Australia Support, Badboy, Davis Cup Squad, Enfant Terrible, John Millman, Kaffir, Last Warning, Mark Philippoussis, Member John, Open Boys, Performance Criteria, Racial Sensitivity, Sensitivity Course, Squad Member, Strict Guidelines, Tennis Australia, Time Coach, Todd Woodbridge