There will be no pleasantries when these gentleman are on court.

For all the booing and hissing you might hear at the US Open, tennis crowds just pretend to disapprove of apoplectic, cussing, racket-smashing players. You only have to look at the enduring fascination with Mr John McEnroe, who this summer published another memoir, But Seriously, to appreciate that little excites spectators like bad behaviour. It’s often said that the 1980s were the golden age for naughty tennis players, and that’s probably true, but the sport still has a wild side with a number of modern professionals channelling (and often outdoing) Mr McEnroe.

Throwing coins is more commonly associated with football hooligans than tennis players in their Wimbledon whites. But such was his emotional state after losing in the second round of this summer’s championships, young Russian player Mr Daniil Medvedev took out his wallet and tossed some change in the direction of the umpire’s chair, in a gesture that suggested there was bias involved in the decision making. “I did a bad thing,” confessed Mr Medvedev, who was, ironically, heavily fined.

Anyone can break a racket on a hard court, but to destroy three in a matter of seconds, while sitting on a chair during a change of ends at a tournament in Cincinnati last summer, requires rage and nihilism beyond most players. Controversy has been a staple of Mr Nick Kyrgios’ career. The notorious sledging incident in Montreal a couple of years ago, when he told Mr Stan Wawrinka that his girlfriend had slept with another player, is a prime example. And such was his lack of effort at a tournament in Shanghai last year – he was patting his serves and turning his back while his opponent was hitting the ball – that he was suspended from the tour for a few weeks. Playing at the French Open this season, he asked a spectator for some unconventional refreshment: “Get me a beer now. Honest to God, get me one now.”

A self-confessed “hothead”, the Italian brought some vulgarity to Wimbledon’s Centre Court this summer by sucking his finger during his third-round match against Sir Andy Murray. He was docked a point for what the umpire classed as a “visible obscenity” (all this after calling his opponent “a Scottish crybaby” on Instagram beforehand). Mr Fabio Fognini is a repeat offender. He received one of the largest fines in Grand Slam history at Wimbledon in 2014 – $27,500 (£16,150) – for damaging the grass, verbally abusing an official and making a rude gesture at his opponent. In October 2014 at the Shanghai Masters, he upset the crowd by giving them the middle finger and was fined $2,000 (£1,500).

In the autumn of 2009, Mr Ernests Gulbis, the son of a Latvian oligarch, had a “very funny" night in a police cell in Stockholm after being arrested for soliciting prostitutes. “I think every person should go to jail once, as it’s really interesting, as they’re very strict,” Mr Gulbis once told me. “But I paid a fine to get out of jail as I had a match to play a few days later, so I couldn’t stay there anymore.” Mr Gulbis once enraged the tennis establishment by describing Messrs Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Novak Djokovic and Sir Andy Murray as “boring players”. “Their interviews are boring. Honestly, they are crap,” he said.

Competing at a Grand Slam is supposed to make the senses race, but such is Mr Bernard Tomic’s ennui with the sport he “felt a little bored out there” at Wimbledon this summer and lost tamely in the first round. Motivation has often been an issue. There have been a number of occasions when the Australian wild child has been accused of tanking, or not making much effort, leading to his nickname of Tomic The Tank Engine. Match point down at a tournament in Madrid last year, he held his racket by the strings and tried to hit the ball with the handle. Perhaps Mr Tomic’s life is just too exhilarating away from the courts. He was investigated by the Australian police for fighting in a Jacuzzi on a rooftop apartment, and he once locked himself in his house to avoid officers after being pursued over alleged driving misdemeanours. Partying in a Miami hotel in 2015, he was charged with resisting arrest and trespassing, although the charges were later dropped.

If you smack a tennis ball away in anger, you need to be very careful with your aim. Representing Canada in a Davis Cup tie against Great Britain this year, teenage star Mr Denis Shapovalov thrashed a ball away and hit the umpire in the face, breaking the official's eye socket. While it was an accident and he was mortified, Mr Shapovalov was defaulted from the decisive fifth rubber, giving Britain the tie.