Wimbledon tennis is often a reminder about the sport's gentle past, with the players wearing white clothes and the spectators enjoying strawberries and cream.
There have been always been bad boys, but their misdemeanours are nothing compared to the one that was crowned the winner in 1879.
I'd like to introduce Vere Thomas St. Leger Goold, second son of an Irish baron.
He was a very talented tennis player, with a "killer backhand", and made it to the 1879 final, where he was defeated in the final by the Reverend John Thorneycroft Hartley.
Goold was expected win, but historians claim that he consumed too much alcohol the night prior to winning.
His life went downhill from there.
He was a gambler and a heavy drinker, as well as an opium user.
He married Madame Marie Giraudin in 1891, a Frenchwoman who had been twice widowed. She also suffered from addiction.
The couple introduced themselves as Sir & Lady and eventually moved to France. They spent a lot of time at Monte Carlo's casinos.
The Goolds lost their entire money at the roulette tables but thought they had found a meal ticket through Emma Levin, a Danish widow. Emma Levin was born in 1907.
She gave the couple PS40, which was a large amount at the time. They lost it.
A public fight broke out with Madame Castelazzi, another Mrs Levin hanger-on, for the return of the money.
The scandal embarrassed the widow from Denmark decided to leave Monte Carlo but she called the Goolds before leaving.
It appears that there was a fight. Police arrived at Emma Levin's home to search for her, and found bloodstains on the ceiling, walls, and furniture.
They also discovered a knife and a butcher's blade covered in bloodstains.
The couple left Marseilles with a large suitcase, a handbag and instructions to be sent to London.
A porter noticed the foul stench and the bloody oozing from their suitcase.
The Goolds story that the case contained dead poultrys was not convincing. Police were called to investigate and found Mrs Levin's severed remains.
Vere Thomas St Ledger Goold would soon swap the tennis courts with the courts of the law.
He was tried with his wife for Mrs Levin's murder.
The prosecution case alleged that Mrs Goold instigated this crime, much like Lady Macbeth figures, and that he was easy to manipulate as a "contemptuous shame" and "drink and debauched creature".
Both were found guilty of the crime and both were sentenced to prison.
Although she was sentenced to death with guillotine, there was no one in Monaco to execute the sentence so it was commuted to life imprisonment.
In 1914, she died from typhoid fever while in prison.
He was sentenced in French Guiana to life imprisonment on Devil's Island.
He suffered from frequent nightmares and withdrawal symptoms from both alcohol- and opium.
At 55 years old, he committed suicide.
His story reminds us, while tennis has its bad boys today, it was also associated with gentlemen back in the day.
