Well-heeled Wimbledon needs a touch of McEnroe super-brat attitude
WATCHING a grey-haired, smart-suited 56-year-old John McEnroe speak with mature insight about all things tennis, it seems odd to think that many feel that what the sport needs is a dose of the “superbrat” attitude of the brash New Yorker’s youth.
McEnroe remains the number one off-court draw at the All England club where a “bunch of 70-year stiffs” once snubbed him by refusing to award him the customary honorary membership after his maiden singles victory in 1981.
That was the year when “You are the pits of the world” and “You cannot be serious” entered the sporting lexicon as McEnroe mixed sublime tennis with boiling frustration on his way to dethroning Bjorn Borg as Wimbledon champion.
At the time, McEnroe’s behaviour – like the sharp tongue of fellow American Jimmy Connors and Romania’s Ilie Nastase – was considered an affront at an event where players were, and still are, ter med “gentlemen” and “ladies”.
Off the court, the antics of Nastase, Vitas Gerulaitis, Boris Becker, Henri Leconte and André Agassi ensured there was never a dull moment.
Three decades on, despite the superlative tennis being served up by the game’s “big four”, there is something of a yearning for that attitude to make a reappearance.
The development of the Hawk-Eye system has just about eliminated the rows with line judges, while on-court microphones and fines deter players from letting off steam.
Becker, too, has matured into a sensible pundit and coach.
“When I was playing you could be a little bit more emotional on the court and in your private life,” he said this week.
The German, who blasted into Wimbledon history by winning the event as a 17-year-old qualifier in 1985, is also widely remembered for the London restaurant broom cupboard encounter with a model in which his daughter was conceived.
“We have great characters, but it’s true they don’t show it as much because they can’t,” he wrote in his book Wimbledon: My Life and Career at the All England Club.
The stars of the modern game each have their distinct personalities.
Droves of fans adore Federer for his polite and respectful demeanour in victory and defeat.
World number one Novak Djokovic is widely admired for his iron will and incredible fitness, Nadal for his power and talent, and Murray for his single-minded commitment to forcing his way to the top table.
Although fans can appreciate the ability to keep calm during the most intense moments of a contest, they also crave the occasional “Tarango moment”.
American Jeff Tarango ear ned his special place in Wimbledon folklore when he stormed off court after calling the umpire “the most corrupt official in the game” during a singles match in 1995. His wife waded in to slap the umpire for good measure.