Tennis fans watching BBC coverage of Wimbledon this year have been left frustrated by John McEnroe. The former men’s singles champion is one of the former pros providing coverage of the 2026 Championships and was on mic for the quarter-final between Jannik Sinner and Jan-Lennard Struff on Tuesday. However, fans didn’t take too kindly to the American going off on tangents about all manner of topics.
“@Wimbledon Mcenroe on again I’ve switched it off” was the blunt verdict from one viewer. “God does McEnroe ever stop talking about irrelevant nonsense?” asked another. He wasn’t the only member of the broadcast team with whom some lost patience. “@Wimbledon can you shut John McEnroe & Tracy Austin up please? Their voices are spoiling your coverage,” wrote a third. A fourth got straight to the point, saying “McEnroe really p***ing me off with his commentary.”
McEnroe has responsibilities with American broadcasters as well as the BBC, as has often been the case at Wimbledon. On Monday, this meant he was forced to leave the commentary booth in the middle of Arthur Fery’s win over Grigor Dimitrov in order to commentate on Taylor Fritz vs Alexander Bublik for his other employers.
After commentator Andrew Cotter joked that the 67-year-old had left “never to return”, he said: “Well, hopefully I’ll return but I’ve got contractual obligations to do the lone American in the draw, Taylor Fritz.
“He’s maybe the slight favourite to get to the final on this half. I’m sure Bublik, Zverev and others may have a say about that. You guys call a great rest of the match.”
The complaints about McEnroe came during the first set of the match on Court 1. Top seed Sinner has made it all the way to the quarter-finals without facing another seeded player, with world No. 74 Struff stunning Daniil Medvedev during his run to the last eight.
“I don’t know. There is not a rule. I think most important is to stay with a good mentality and right attitude on court,” Sinner said when asked about his biggest challenges in the latter stages of the Championships.
“Of course, the stages are getting bigger, more important, as we know. There is more attention on every detail. We try to prepare each match as the most important, then we see. I’m trying to control whatever we can control, then the rest trying to solve the problem.”