‘Not Your Fault, You A**Hole’- John McEnroe Had a Fiery Send-off to an Official Who Witnessed One of His Worst-Ever Meltdowns in 1990

John McEnroe, the 7-time Grand Slam champion, had once shared a fiery message for a tennis official. In a 2015 interview, he was asked about veteran British umpire Gerry Armstrong. The umpire had disqualified the ‘SuperBrat’ from the 1990 Australian Open for using foul language. McEnroe was quick to reply with a sarcastic message for the official.

Before McEnroe, a player had never been defaulted in an open-era Grand Slam tournament match. The crowd was initially silent, but as the situation became more real, they began to jeer. The American legend was up two sets to one at the time of the default and was shocked when he learned of the default. He sat back down, picking up his racquets.

John McEnroe shared a retirement message for an official, in his own style

Chair umpire Gerry Armstrong defaulted McEnroe at the 1990 Australian Open after receiving two warnings. The first for unsportsmanlike conduct and the second for racquet abuse. ‘SuperBrat’ displayed a classic blend of denial and acceptance of responsibility in his post-game press conference. He was known on the tennis court for being both a genius with a racket and for his outbursts.

McEnroe was asked in 2015 to send Armstrong a retirement message. As much as McEnroe would like to blame the official for the incident, he admits it wasn’t his fault. According to McEnroe, the supervisor, whom he had yelled at, was to blame.

The 7-time Grand Slam champion always seemed to walk a fine line in his arguments with the authorities and when confronting the Swede Mikael Pernfors, he went too far. He first docked a point for smashing his racket, and then he was disqualified after going on a tirade against the referee. He had allegedly told a supervisor to “go f*** your mother.”

READ MORE- ‘Have a Lot of S*x’ – Tennis Legend John McEnroe Once Explained the Key to ‘Success in Any Marriage’

In the 2015 interview, McEnroe said, “I know they didn’t want to default me, so it wasn’t Gerry’s fault. So I will tell him: “It’s not your fault, you a**hole!”

McEnroe once admitted the reason behind his on-court outbursts

The outbursts, which were frequently directed at the umpire, fueled McEnroe’s ‘angry rebel’ reputation. His antics and outbursts eventually became his successful brand image. He admitted that when he became angry, he was often concealing something completely different. His erratic behavior concealed the emotional strain of a complicated personal life and a demanding career.

‘SuperBrat’ had yelled his famous catchphrase for the first time at a line judge. At Wimbledon in 1981, he was competing against Tom Gullikson, and it quickly became his catchphrase. The tennis champion is still remembered for this irate outburst, “You cannot be serious!“.

Let us know what you think about McEnroe and his behavior in the comments below.

WATCH THIS STORY – When Billie Jean King slammed ‘superbrat’ John McEnroe for his Controversial Serena Williams statement