NEW YORK - It is 25 years since Roscoe Tanner astonished spectators at Wimbledon and the other Grand Slam tournaments with his dynamite serve and hard-charging talent.
Now it is not centre court that awaits him, but a court of justice in Florida and the threat of 20 years in prison.
OnceNo 4 in the world, conquering foes with perhaps greater finesse but less sheer muscle, Tanner is now facing financial and legal humiliation. Last weekend, he was extradited to the United States from Germany to face charges of grand theft and writing a bad cheque.
Tanner, 51, has a new record of achievement these days. It is no longer about kilometres an hour but about dollars squandered.
Yesterday, he was locked in a 24-person cell in Clearwater, close to Tampa in Florida, unable to pay a bail set at US$55,000 ($94,400) and too broke to pay for his own lawyer.
He was brought to America on charges that he bought a 10m boat while working at a Clearwater tennis club three years ago with a cheque that bounced.
Officials yesterday said Tanner would be formally charged in a court appearance on August 18. The trial may take months.
But Tanner, who won the Australian Open in 1977 and was runner-up in Wimbledon in 1979, has more troubles. He is also wanted by authorities in New Jersey for allegedly not paying child support to a woman with whom he had a brief affair in 1993.
He owes US$70,000 ($120,200), prosecutors say.
Tanner retired in 1984 with an elbow injury at the end of a career that reportedly earned him a million dollars.
Aside from his various business ventures, he continued to play on the senior circuit and give coaching.
"How did this happen? How does Tanner's story get to this chapter?" bemoaned Gary Shelton, a sports columnist for the St Petersburg Times in Florida.
"For Tanner, life off the courts reads like the typical road map of a career screw-up. Every bad decision is chased by a worse one, and every mistake is multiplied by a bigger one.
"It's a shame. Time was, Tanner was such a joy to watch."
