"We all say regretful things that come with unnecessary hurt" - When Andre Agassi addressed John McEnroe after disparaging comments on Novak Djokovic

Andre Agassi spoke up to John McEnroe after the latter commented on Novak Djokovic's dip in form and compared his Tiger Woods' personal life.

McEnroe's comments came during BBC's Wimbledon 2017 coverage. Djokovic didn't win any Grand Slams that year and had to end his season early because of elbow issues, including missing the US Open. His last Major victory had been in the 2016 French Open and he had also slipped from the top of the ATP Ranking ladder.

The American compared the Serb's struggles to those of Tiger Woods, who also experienced a title drought after his highly publicized fallout with his ex-wife, Elin Nordegren.

"The person that comes to mind immediately with Novak is not a tennis player, it's actually a golfer: Tiger Woods," McEnroe said (via ESPN).

"[Woods] had the issues with his wife, and then he seemed to go completely off the rails and has never been even close to being the same player. So we're starting to say, 'Wait a minute, is this possible with [Djokovic]?'" he added.

Andre Agassi — Novak Djokovic's coach at the time — informed the media that he had spoken with McEnroe regarding his controversial remarks and expressed a hope that the seven-time Major champion would "show more judgement" in the future.

"I spoke to John directly about that," Agassi said (via Sportstar). "We all have the potential to say regretful things that come with unnecessary hurt to people. My hope is that he'll show more judgment moving forward."

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Novak Djokovic: "I don't think there was any kind of really wrong intention from John McEnroe's side towards me"

Novak Djokovic pictured at Wimbledon 2017

Novak Djokovic responded directly to John McEnroe's comparison of his personal life to Tiger Woods', expressing confusion as to why the American would say such a thing.

However, the Serb speculated that perhaps it stemmed from a lighthearted incident where he jokingly hit McEnroe with a serve during one of his warm-up sessions, a gesture that the latter may have taken more seriously.

"I don't know where was the basis or if he [John McEnroe] was just maybe making a comparison," Djokovic said (via ESPN). "I'm not really sure. When I was warming up for my first match on the Centre Court [on Tuesday], he was giving an intro, talking to the camera, and I served and the serve went straight at him as I was playing."

"I don't know. Maybe it's because of that. Maybe he thought it wasn't a joke, and I was joking; I was trying to hit him. I don't know. I take it very lightly. I don't think there was any kind of really wrong intention from his side towards me," he added.

Djokovic advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2017 Wimbledon Championships but was ultimately defeated by Tomas Berdych. Along the way, the 36-year-old secured victories over Martin Klizan, Adam Pavlasek, Ernests Gulbis, and Adrian Mannarino.