Wimbledon Betting / Dan Fitch / 08 June 2011 /

Dan Fitch takes a look back at the career of John McEnroe and selects his maddest moments on court.

There are two sides to John McEnroe. When he's working as a broadcaster he is effortlessly charming and erudite. On the tennis court however, he is and has always been the original 'Superbrat'. Even at the age of 52 when McEnroe competes in senior events, he's still likely to erupt at the slightest hint at a bad call from an umpire.

Here are ten moments of McEnroe madness.

10. What constitutes a clear mistake?

John McEnroe's last Wimbledon came in 1992 when he reached the semi-final and was beaten by Andre Agassi. Maybe it way just for old times sake, but McEnroe rolled back the years by getting angry with the officials, in a manner that was both eloquent and rather patronising.

9. Leaving the Tennis Hall of Fame

One of the most recent examples that proves McEnroe is as mad as ever, comes from 2008 Tennis Hall of Fame where McEnroe was defaulted after getting into a row with the umpire. The video is notable for the fact that at the end, an English spectator is moved to describe McEnroe as 'a big girl's blouse'.

8. Humbled by Connors

McEnroe liked getting in the face of the officials, but this footage from a 1982 exhibition match against Jimmy Connors shows that he wasn't so comfortable when on the receiving end of some verbals. McEnroe's old rival is sufficiently annoyed by his antics to cross the net and wag his finger at a sheepish looking Mac.

7. Bring your daughter to the slaughter

If you were concerned about the possibility of your daughter hearing some bad language, then why on earth would you take her to see John McEnroe play tennis? That's what one fan did and ended up getting into a row with McEnroe who treated the man's daughter to some further profanities.

6. Please tell me

We all occasionally swear at ourselves when we make a mistake, so pity McEnroe as he's penalised for cursing himself and then pity the umpire who ends up at the wrong end of his wrath.

5. A rainy day in Paris

Perhaps the most beautifully shot footage of McEnroe in action comes from the 1982 documentary by William Klein 'The French' - a behind-the-scenes look at the 1981 French Open. Here McEnroe pleads with the match referee to call a halt to the play due to bad weather, but is met with French shrugs.

4. Doubles troubles

As great as he was as a singles player, McEnroe was arguably even better when it came to doubles. In 2009 Mac showed that he still retains his competitive edge, when Leander Paes smashed the ball straight at his doubles partner Robert Kendrick.

McEnroe was soon arguing animatedly with Paes and his teammate Kendrick got his revenge by slamming the ball straight into his opponent from his serve.

3. You cannot be serious

McEnroe's most famous meltdown came at Wimbledon in 1981, when the phrases 'you cannot be serious' and 'chalk flew up' entered the public consciousness, as Mac went ballistic.

2. McEnroe succumbs to Stockholm syndrome

Ivan Lendl was an arch-rival to McEnroe in the eighties and it was when facing the Czech at the Stockholm Open in 1984, that McEnroe had one of his biggest meltdowns as he incurred code violations for verbal and racquet abuse.

Despite being penalised two points, McEnroe would defeat Lendl and go on to win the tournament by beating Mats Wilander.

1. Djorkovic gets more than he bargained for

When Novak Djokovic decided to imitate McEnroe at the 2009 US Open, he was probably expecting nothing more than to receive a few laughs from the crowd.

Instead he found himself across the net from the real deal, as McEnroe ran down from his commentary position to show Djokovic that while he can be imitated, he'll never be bettered.

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