The McEnroe rule

I REMEMBER a commentator predicting the following about John McEnroe and his tantrums and berating of umpires. He said to just wait until he is no longer in the top 3 and they will start defaulting him. Which is what happened, culminating in 1990 when he was defaulted out of the fourth round of a grand slam, the Australian Open. My apologies to those who don't really know McEnroe (who is my age) or only know him as a tennis commentator. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was seen as the most gifted tennis player who ended Bjorn Borg's five-year run as champion at Wimbledon and factored into Borg's premature retirement. Many thought Borg retired as he felt he could not beat McEnroe going forward besides being burnt out.

McEnroe, in my view, was the best at the serve and volley game, had an astounding variety of shots, and played well under pressure and even seemed to thrive on it. He also seemed to have partly lost it after Borg retired. He felt it wasn't the same as he viewed Borg as his biggest challenge, and it was gone so soon after it started. Alas, what McEnroe is most remembered for as a player is being the loudest and most ill-behaved player who would throw tantrums, scream and berate linesmen and umpires.

THE EMPIRICIST