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Robert Dee: the world's worst tennis player
Padraig Reidy: And the world's worst tennis player is...
28 Apr 10

Remember Robert Dee?

Robert Dee is a professional tennis player. Trouble is, Robert Dee is not a great tennis player. Federer he ain’t. He’s got nada on Nadal. You get the idea.

What Robert is (or was) very good at is (or was) threatening libel actions against anyone who pointed out the fact that he’s not great at tennis. Over 30 media outlets capitulated to his legal threats.

But now, a high court judge has ruled that the Daily Telegraph was within its rights to refer to Dee as the “world’s worst Tennis player”.

Mrs Justice Sharp commented in her judgment:

“The incontestably true facts are that the Claimant [Robert Dee] did lose 54 matches in a row in straight sets in his first three years on the world ranking ITF / ATP tournaments on the international professional tennis circuit, and that this was the worst ever run.”

Thing is, he’d probably still beat me.

By Padraig Reidy

Padraig Reidy is the editor of Little Atoms and a columnist for Index on Censorship. He has also written for The Observer, The Guardian, and The Irish Times.

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