McEnroe at Wimbledon - from sex joke warning and denied request to huge wages
John McEnroe 's uproarious sex joke, scathing criticisms directed at umpires, and presence at Wimbledon this year have been anything but boring.
The tennis legend has drawn controversy with his actions and words throughout the tournament, earned backlash over his "beyond ridiculous" commentary, and all the while entertained viewers at home.
For example, during Ons Jabeur's impressive performance against Wimbledon rival Petra Kvitova on Monday, McEnroe amused his fellow pundits with a humorous yet somewhat inappropriate comment. As the overcast conditions at SW19 were being discussed, Balding said: "Ons Jabeur is looking up at the sky above, wondering if it's going to rain. I think the answer is no. But it is overcast. It's one of those days that would see a bit of swing on the ball in cricket."
That prompted Wimbledon semi-finalist Tim Henman to add it was "good conditions for the seamers". Enter McEnroe.
"Are the swingers the ones who don't throw it as hard [in cricket]? Is that what swingers are? We have different definitions in the States!"
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Despite earning laughter from his colleagues, a less than impressed Balding barked: "We're talking about something completely different, John! It's not a channel for that sort of talk."
But that did not deter McEnroe from expressing his opinion when making critical remarks at the umpire who made a controversial call during Novak Djokovic's matchup against Jannik Sinner. Djokovic was penalised one point against Sinner after appearing to use a grunt to his advantage.
McEnroe received a telling off over his joke (BBC)"Never in his 18-year career, not one time it has ever been called," McEnroe fumed while on commentary duty. "Horrible, horrible call. First of all, did you notice that Sinner’s ball went back in the court and dropped like a foot from the baseline?”
The tennis legend also shared a light-hearted moment that involved Bjorn Borg after the pair were tasked with recreating their famous 1980 final on Wimbledon's esteemed Centre Court. Unfortunately McEnroe's request for his ESPN series McEnroe's Places was denied by the All England Club, due to recent grass reseeding.
The duo instead simulated smashing a racket and made their way to Court 6. "Not quite the same," McEnroe quipped. "But beggars can't be choosers."
On another occasion the American provided commentary for Carlos Alcaraz's match against Nicolas Jarry. McEnroe attempted to compliment Jarry during the contest, but Australian player and commentator John Millman took it as an insult.
"We don't know Jarry yet, but we'll get to know him," said McEnroe. However, Millman expressed annoyance on social media.
"Jarry was already ranked in the top 30 players in the world. "How can a commentator say 'we don't know Jarry yet' when he is currently the 28th best player out of 87 million tennis players worldwide?" Millman blasted.
John McEnroe didn't hold back when criticising an umpire's call (BBC iPlayer)And that was not the only time in the competition McEnroe drew criticism. Tennis fans piled on the 64-year-old for comparing Alexander Bublik to Nick Kyrgios during his match against Andrey Rublev. McEnroe compared the two by stating that they competed with each other to see which player is the laziest.
"John McEnroe’s comments about Bublik during his 4R were totally unacceptable," seethed one fan. "To claim he’s disrespectful to his opponents, that he hopes he loses, that he doesn’t care about the sport - comparing him to Kyrgios saying they’re in a ‘league of who cares the least'."
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And so, finally, how much does McEnroe earn for all his endeavours? Well, according to the BBC's annual report, McEnroe is the highest-paid employee. He brings in more than £200,000 for his two weeks of work, more than what the average Premier League footballer makes.
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