John McEnroe’s Wimbledon rant is truly legendary.
During his 1981 first-round match, McEnroe, incensed by umpire Ted James’ decision, uttered the now infamous words, ‘You cannot be serious.’
Most fans would argue McEnroe’s meltdown was the greatest ‘crashout’ in tennis history, but not John Isner.
What is the one tennis result you would like to change?
Plenty to pick from!
The former Wimbledon semi-finalist shared his favourite tennis crashout during the latest episode of ‘Nothing Major‘.
John Isner says Jeff Tarango’s Wimbledon ‘crashout’ was the best ever
“1995, Jeff Tarango, I personally think this is the best one ever,” said Isner.
“He was good on grass, and at Wimbledon, he walked off the court after accusing the umpire of being corrupt.
“Just quit the match, and his wife also slapped the umpire.
“I’m sorry, as legendary as John McEnroe is, I like the Tarango one.”
Jeff Tarango’s Wimbledon meltdown – A timeline
- Became infuriated with umpire Bruno Rebeuh after ruling against him several times
- Told the crowd to ‘Shut up’, when he was heckled
- Received an immediate code violation
- Tarango protested the violation and asked the tournament referee to remove Rebeuh
- Tournament referee asked Tarango to continue
- Tarango called Rebeuh ‘corrupt’
- Rebeuh issued Tarango another code violation
- Tarango refused to continue and walked off the court, conceding defeat
- Tarango’s wife slapped Rebeuh
Isner believes Tarango’s meltdown is the best of all time, but named two more classic ‘crashouts’.
“I remember [David] Nalbandian, in 2012, Queen’s Club,” he said.
“He was trying to hit a running forehand, missed the shot, then kicked that wooden barrier that the linesman was sitting behind, it splintered and cut the guy’s leg.
“He oversold it a little bit. I think he was playing [Marin] Cilic, automatic DQ, the match was over.
“And, Mikhail Youzhny at Miami 2008, I think he was playing [Nicolas] Almagro.
“You don’t have to be a tennis fan to know that one!
“Double hand, smash the strings into the head, starts bleeding right down his face.
“Looking like a WWE fighter or something.”
Sam Querrey was also keen to weigh in with his picks.
“Pablo Carreno Busta, when he lost to Kei Nishikori at the Australian Open, took his bag and threw his entire bag,” he said.
“That was a really good one.
“2012 Australian Open, Marcos Baghdatis, where he just sat on the bench took every racket out, some he didn’t even take out of the bag [and broke them].
“I feel like when you’re scrolling Instagram, that makes the For You page, you remember that one.”
Isner, Querrey, and Steve Johnson finally settled on a top five.
“So you want to go [Jeff] Tarango, we’ve got to go [Marcos] Baghdatis,” said Querrey.
“[David] Nalbandian?” added Isner.
“The Nalbandian one… It wasn’t a huge meltdown, it was just a quick frustration, kick the thing, in a final!” Querrey replied.
“We’ve got to go McEnroe, and I personally like Pablo Carreno Busta in the Australian Open, throwing the bag. [Mikhail] Youzhny is legendary, just because of the blood, he looked like a villain from a movie.”
John Isner, Sam Querrey, and Steve Johnson’s top-five crashouts
| Player | Event | Opponent |
| Jeff Tarango | 1995 Wimbledon | Alexander Mronz |
| John McEnroe | 1981 Wimbledon | Tom Gullikson |
| Mikhail Youzhny | 2008 Miami Open | Nicolas Almagro |
| Pablo Carreno Busta | 2019 Australian Open | Kei Nishikori |
| Marcos Baghdatis | 2012 Australian Open | Stan Wawrinka |
Steve Johnson delivers his verdict on Daniil Medvedev’s Monte Carlo Masters meltdown
Earlier this month, Daniil Medvedev produced another memorable meltdown during his 6-0, 6-0 defeat at the Monte Carlo Masters.
“It was so funny, because every time you thought [Daniil] Medvedev was done with that racket, he gave it one more good lashing,” said Johnson.
“It was phenomenal, broke it at the baseline, then throws it, walks a couple of steps, crowd gets into it, throws it again, keeps hitting it.
“It’s pretty impressive how mangled that racket was, and it still had some left in it for the seventh time he smashed it into the ground.
“I respect the hell out of it as a guy that broke one or two rackets during his career, no more!”
Medvedev was furious, suffering the first 6-0, 6-0 defeat of his professional career.
He hasn’t been seen on court since, but is expected to return at next week’s Madrid Open.
