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There has been a history of infamous tennis fathers, men who were either overly-meddlesome and/or abusive in their relationships with their daughters.

The same has not been the case with tennis mothers but, if there is one, it would likely be Samantha Stevenson, mother of Alexandra Stevenson. Samantha gained notoriety in 1999 when Alexandra, just 18, reached the Wimbledon semi-finals and the story broke that her daughter’s biological father was retired basketball great Julius Erving (a.k.a. Dr. J).

Samantha had a liaison with Erving while she was a reporter covering the hoops superstar's Philadelphia 76ers.

Alexandra, who turns 29 next month, has had a star-crossed career since a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Lindsay Davenport in the 1999 semis at the All England Club.

At the time, Davenport criticized Samantha for making statements about alleged racism and lesbianism on the women’s tour, declaring that her claims “sounded crazy.”

Ranked as high as No. 18 in 2002, Alexandra’s career has been plagued by injuries. She had shoulder surgery in 2004 and her troubles continue – she has retired from matches on seven occasions since June, including last week in Phoenix, Ariz., with a foot problem.

On Thursday, now ranked No. 229, she reached the quarter-finals of the $50,000 Tevlin Challenger on Tennis Canada’s indoor courts in Toronto, defeating her American compatriot Christina McHale 6-4, 6-2. The No. 240-ranked McHale, 17, is the current U.S. Junior (under-18) champion.

Unfortunately, despite her daughter’s relatively uncomplicated victory, Samantha Stevenson managed to insert herself into the match in an unnecessary manner.

The spectator chairs for the Court 2 match were placed on the vacant, adjacent Court 3. Almost everyone watching, as had been the custom all week, sat inside the Court 3 singles sideline. But Samantha positioned her chair prominently just outside the doubles sideline near the baseline, in the space between the two courts about 20 feet from the junction of the Court 2 baseline and sideline.

She sat by herself taking notes and was easy to spot dressed in a black ski jacket, black track pants, jogging shoes and wearing sunglasses.

From the beginning of the match, she encouraged her daughter whenever she played at her end of the court, saying things such as, “c’mon Alexandra, good location, you can do it,” as she prepared to serve.

During the early going, when a McHale fan at the other end of the court shouted out, “C’mon Christina,” Samantha said out loud to herself, “what an asshole.”

In the fifth game, when her daughter’s shot down the near sideline at her end of the court was ruled good, McHale protested to the umpire that the ball had been wide. When she then moved away toward the back of the court, Samantha said, “it was on the line, you’ve got bad eyes.”

McHale responded, “I wasn’t talking to you.”

Though reasonably controlled for the rest of the match, Samantha often said “good shot” or something similar whenever Alexandra hit a winner while at the far end, meaning that probably only McHale could hear the comment.

Midway through the second set when Alexandra had an on-court treatment from Tennis Canada trainer Marlene Nobrega for a shoulder/back/neck problem, Samantha got up out of her chair and went over and spoke to ITF supervisor William Coffey who was positioned just behind where Alexandra was seated.

After the match, Samantha walked off with her daughter and could be heard saying about somebody, “what an (expletive)''.

That fits her apparent us-against-the-world attitude, something that is certainly not very pretty to observe at a tennis tournament.

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From the ‘rarely seen department’ came a clothing change by Alexandra when she was seated during the changeover after the third game of the first set. She removed the long-sleeved black top she had been wearing and had nothing on underneath except a sports bra. She then she proceeded to put on a different top.