The Washington Post can’t cancel John McEnroe

From his lofty BBC and ESPN perches at Wimbledon, John McEnroe is agitating people… again.

In particular, he has irked Sally Jenkins from The Washington Post who has accused him of “belching up words” in a diatribe column dedicated to removing him from TV.

This, however, only goes to prove that McEnroe can still move the needle. As he should. It is the McEnroe way. Dare I say, it’s the American way – brash, loud, and a bit erroneously confident.

Sure, McEnroe mispronounced names this tournament, notably calling Hungarian Marton Fucsovics, “Fuskovitz,” or “Fuksovitz,” in a third round loss to American Ben Shelton. He didn’t fare much better with 26th ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas in this year’s Australian Open. One should know better, particularly with players who are of some stature on the ATP tour.

But, gaffes happen on live television. McEnroe isn’t paid the big bucks to give us Rosetta Stone lessons. Much like his once tireless presence on the court, he fearlessly attacks issues others shy away from – like telling 38-year-old Fabio Fognini to retire following the Italian’s five-set loss to Carlos Alcaraz. Name another announcer brave enough to go there.

Shortly after, Fognini announced his retirement at a Wimbledon press conference.

McEnroe is a mood and a movement. He triggers star players to tweet, engage and comment. He challenges fan reactions and standards of the sport – and that is the point. Millions of fans do not listen to Stephen A. Smith for professional basketball experience, of which he has none, but for his cultural relevance and energetic delivery.

Much the same for tennis, McEnroe is a rare breed who can provide both acumen and conversational relatability – a rare combination from a seven Time Grand Slam champion. He actually has the goods to back up his brazen attitude.

It’s valued and drives ratings. Otherwise networks would have stopped hiring him years ago.

He is hard on players. Often they clap back. Nick Kyrgios has responded fiercely in the past. Does McEnroe shy away? No. When asked not to talk about Kyrgios, McEnroe said to a reporter, “I’m okay talking about Nick Kyrgios. If anyone’s heard me talk about Nick Kyrgios, it’s in the sense that I would prefer to see him playing, because he’s one of the most talented guys that I’ve seen on a tennis court.”

Point, McEnroe.

When a deafening “Rune” chant erupted against Novak Djokovic – the name of his opponent, Holger Rune – in 2024 at Centre Court McEnroe stood up for Djokovic and called the treatment unfair. Going so far to say, “He’s like the Darth Vader compared to two of the classiest acts we’ve seen play tennis – Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer. Who can stand up to them in what they’ve contributed? No one – and then here comes Djokovic, crashing the party.”

At 66-years-old, McEnroe continues to crash the party, too. He commands attention – even if that attention is hate tweets from keyboard warriors.

John McEnroe is the crotchety grandfather we’ve gotten used to. He’s not perfect but he draws more eyeballs to tennis (especially in America where the sport lags) than anyone else. Andy Roddick might make some salient points but is he interesting to watch? Not really. John Isner? Never won a major.

Until another American can top international rankings for 170 weeks, win the Davis Cup and be elected into the Hall of Fame, heck, until another American man breaks a 22 year drought and wins just one Grand Slam title, McEnroe shall remain the tennis ace you love to hate on your television screens.