It just might be the most famous line ever uttered in tennis. “You cannot be serious!” exclaimed John McEnroe on June 22, 1981 in his first-round Wimbledon victory over Tom Gullikson (ironically, the name who nearly 20 years later would be replaced by McEnroe as U.S. Davis Cup captain in late 1999).
McEnroe’s famed tirade is documented below in Randy Walker’s book ON THIS DAY IN TENNIS HISTORY ($19.95, New Chapter Press, available here on amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/This-Tennis-History-Day—Day/dp/0942257421/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308659666&sr=1-1). The tirade can viewed here:
June 22, 1981 – John McEnroe famously calls chair umpire Edward James “the pits of the world” and an “incompetent fool” while exclaiming his famous line “You cannot be serious” in his 7-6 (5), 7-5, 6-3 first-round win over Tom Gullikson on the opening day at Wimbledon. The match is highlighted by McEnroe’s verbally entertaining tirades, two point penalties and two smashed racquets. McEnroe’s most heated tantrum – featuring the famous phrases – comes with Gullikson serving at 1-1, 15-30. Tournament referee Fred Hoyles is called to the court after James slaps McEnroe with a point penalty. After McEnroe’s arguments with Hoyle go unsatisfied, Gullikson holds serve and McEnroe throws a four-letter expletive to Hoyle on the changeover, prompting another point penalty. Says Gullikson of McEnroe’s behavior, ”It has no place. Everyone’s afraid of these guys. All it would take is one default to put them in line. If it was the 120th player in the world, they would have defaulted him.”
The added attention on McEnroe and his chief rival Bjorn Borg has been stoked by two new books on the rivalry, Matt Cronin’s EPIC, available here on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/Epic-McEnroe-Greatest-Tennis-Season/dp/0470190620/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308660219&sr=1-3 and Steve Tignor’s HIGH STRUNG available here on amazon.com: http://www.amazon.com/High-Strung-McEnroe-Tenniss-Fiercest/dp/0062009842/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1308660262&sr=1-1. HBO also has a fantastic documentary on McEnroe-Borg called FIRE & ICE that is recommended viewing.