John McEnroe calls for tennis to scrap umpires and line judges in big shake-up

Tennis should do away with umpires and line judges altogether and simply rely on the accuracy of the technology already used in the game. That’s the view of John McEnroe, with the seven-time Grand Slam champion also claiming that if the Hawkeye system had been utilised during his playing days, he would have won more titles.

The four-times US Open winner earned the nickname ‘Superbrat’ for his regular outbursts aimed at umpires when contentious decisions went against him.

And in an interview with the Radio Times, the American admitted that attempts to be more emotionless like his great rival Bjorn Borg would unravel “in ten minutes”.

McEnroe said: “I think that tennis is one of the few sports where you don’t need umpires or linesmen. If you have this equipment, and it’s accurate, isn’t it nice to know that the correct call’s being made? Had I had it from the very beginning, I would have been more boring, but I would have won more.”

The American’s rivalry with Swede Bjorg was labelled ‘Fire and Ice’ because of the pair’s contrasting personalities. And despite attempts to bridge that gap, it proved impossible for McEnroe in match situations.

“I actually decided, after watching him and playing him a bit, ‘OK, you have to practise and behave the way Bjorn does,’” said McEnroe. “This was practice. At matches, that would go out the door in ten minutes.”

Despite McEnroe’s apparent acceptance that his nemesis had a superior temperament, the pair won seven matches each across their 14 professional encounters.

The American’s notorious outbursts peaked in 1981 at Wimbledon when his serve was called out in a match against fellow American Tom Gullikson. McEnroe screamed at the umpire: “You cannot be serious. That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up.”

The point went against McEnroe but he still won the match in straight sets and eventually went on to claim the title.

He was suspended from play for two months, six years later, after swearing at an umpire during his US Open triumph against Slobodan Zivojinovic, with his beaten opponent describing the incident as a “vile, disgusting attack”.

In 1990 he became the first player to be thrown out of a Grand Slam event in almost 30 years after he verbally abused an umpire at the Australian Open and in 2008 he even managed to get himself ejected from a Hall of Fame match for remonstrating with the umpire and making an obscene gesture to spectators.

McEnroe admitted in his Radio Times interview that his sometimes “overboard” antics were used to mask his vulnerability and that his children had helped him calm down later in life.