John McEnroe Faces Backlash for Irritating Hissing During Wimbledon Commentary

John McEnroe‘s commentary at tennis matches really gets people talking. And not always in a good way.

A well-known sports journalist just tore into the tennis legend in a pretty brutal article.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion has been calling matches for years now. Most former top players bring real insights that help fans understand what’s really happening on court.

But here’s the thing – a lot of tennis fans think McEnroe just doesn’t get the modern game anymore.

They say he’s lost that edge he had in his earlier commentary years. Younger commentators seem to offer way more useful analysis.

It gets worse. Many people think he’s straight-up disrespectful to lower-ranked players.

McEnroe has actually admitted on air when he knows nothing about players he’s watching. We’re talking about guys who’ve been in the Top 50.

That’s pretty rough when it’s literally your job to know these things.

Despite all the complaints, the BBC, TNT Sports, and American networks keep hiring him. In 2023, the BBC even defended paying him massive amounts for just two weeks of Wimbledon coverage.

Sally Jenkins from The Washington Post finally had enough.

The experienced columnist absolutely went off on McEnroe and his brother Patrick in her latest piece. She called them "irritating" and said they offered basically no useful analysis during matches.

"Coupled in the ESPN broadcast booth at Wimbledon this week, they have given the viewer about as much information as a couple of air compressors, complete with the irritating hissing."

Ouch.

Jenkins then went after the older McEnroe brother for constantly messing up players’ names. She thinks he mistakes his ignorance for some kind of charming personality trait that audiences love.

"When the elder Mac isn’t burying the viewer in superficialities, he blithely and unembarrassedly mangles foreign pronunciations, apparently because he imagines it is part of his ineffable charm."

She also slammed him for not doing his homework on unfamiliar players. Jenkins argues that kind of unprofessionalism shouldn’t fly when you’re covering major tournaments.

Jenkins compared him unfavorably to commentators like Andre Agassi, Chris Evert, and Andy Roddick. She thinks networks would get way better value using those voices instead.

To be fair, even those commentators get criticism. Evert often gets called out online for talking too much between points.

Fans really loved Nick Kyrgios‘ commentary at last year’s Australian Open, Wimbledon, and US Open. He brought something totally different to the table.

Having someone who actually played against many of the current players made a huge difference.

But the BBC decided not to use Kyrgios for the 2025 Wimbledon Championships. Kyrgios blasted the broadcaster for that decision and claimed some of their other commentators couldn’t offer the same level of insight.

Many analysts do get praise for their work though. Andrea Petkovic regularly gets kudos for her commentary and analysis work.

She’s the same person who called out Kyrgios for what she termed "misogynist nonsense."

Here’s the reality – commentary is totally subjective. Different styles appeal to different people.

What’s pretty clear is that McEnroe will keep calling matches at the four Grand Slams for years to come. Why? Because enough people still tune in specifically to hear him.

Whether that’s a good thing or not really depends on who you ask.