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Tennis players seem to lack explosive temper and emotion, according to John McEnroe, who wishes to see a little more of it on the tour.
McEnroe is a former World No. 1 who has won the US Open four times and Wimbledon on three occasions. The American was also known to be a fiery personality, with several outbursts and arguments with umpires and tournament officials along with aggressive conduct (smashing racquets, throwing bottles) on the court.
Nicknamed "Superbrat," McEnroe's outburst at Wimbledon in 1981 after his ace was wrongly called "wide" in the championship match (that he subsequently won) was voted the most memorable moment in the tournament's history.
John McEnroe responded to various tennis-related queries during an interview with WIRED. One of the questions asked was why tennis players had such outbursts, to which the 63-year-old responded that tennis players are generally well-behaved and could attest to it given his own past experiences.
"You must be watching different tournament than me because I don't see many players having meltdowns at all and I know something about meltdowns given my past experience," McEnroe said.
"I've seen a couple players, obviously Nick Kyrgios comes to mind, having meltdowns on a pretty regular basis. But for the most part, tennis players are incredibly well behaved. I'd like to see a little bit more explosive temper, see the emotions, wear it on their sleeve," he added.
Reflecting on the toughest opponent he has ever played against, John McEnroe stated 14-time Grand Slam winner Pete Sampras' name. While he mentioned the names of Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl as great rivals, McEnroe claimed that Sampras outperformed him with his strong serve and that "it didn't matter what I did."
"My toughest opponent I ever played though, at the end of my career, unfortunately, and the beginning of his, his name was Pete Sampras," John McEnroe said, adding, "It felt like I just had the racket take taken outta my hands. It didn't matter what I did almost."
"He served so big and was hitting the ball so hard that I wasn't able to do my thing. He took me outta my game, and I wasn't moving as well as I was earlier in my career, so that made it a lot worse," he added.
"I think it’s a joke, I’m going to have a chat to him later"- Rafael Nadal on John McEnroe's claims
Following his victory against Rinky Hijikata in the first round of the US Open on Tuesday, Rafael Nadal had an intriguing question posed to him by a reporter.
The reporter said that John McEnroe had stated while commentating that Nadal regularly got away with not adhering to the stop-clock's 25 second timer in-between points and that he received special treatment from chair umpires.
The Spaniard ridiculed the accusation and said that he would have a conversation with McEnroe later.
"I think it’s a joke. I don’t think I have different treatment from the umpires at all. I don’t think I am receiving different treatment at all. I don’t understand why John can say that on the TV. I’m going to have a chat to him later," Nadal said.
The Spaniard got past Fabio Fognini in four sets in the second round and will face Richard Gasquet in the third round.
