‘Wimbledon without Sue Barker on BBC will be like when Bjorn Borg didn’t play – it’s a bummer’
John McEnroe is virtually synonymous with Wimbledon.
A three-time singles champion, and five-time doubles, he is one of the most successful players ever to have graced the grass at SW19, as well as one of the most controversial.
Now he is a popular pundit and commentator, with his face and voice a familiar sight and sound on BBC TV screens throughout the fortnight, meaning his fame spans generations.
But he will be in rare, unfamiliar territory at this year’s championships, because he will not be flanked by Sue Barker. After three decades working on the corporation’s Wimbledon coverage, the 1973 French Open champion and BBC stalwart will be watching from the stands – not the studio – this year.
“Yeah, that’s going to be a bummer,” McEnroe says. “Sue is a legend. She was incredible at what she did, so it’s going to be a void.
“It’s like when [Bjorn] Borg didn’t play. For us, it was a huge thing.
“So especially since I’ve been doing this, the other side, the commentary side, for as long as I have been doing it with her, she just makes it easier for everyone around her.
“And she did that for 25 years or something. So it’s a tough act to follow.
“The old cliché [is] all good things come to an end. She decided that this was enough, go out I guess on a high. And God bless her. Hopefully, she’ll come by and say hello.”
Barker is unlikely not to, if her emotional goodbye to the team, which included her replacement Clare Balding, at the end of last year’s tournament is anything to go by.
Previously described by McEnroe as “the Roger Federer of broadcasting”, Barker is probably the only person held in higher regard at Wimbledon than the eight-time champion.
The only other person who could perhaps dispute that title is Andy Murray, the first British man to win the singles title at SW19 for 77 years.
Murray will be back for his 15th Wimbledon as a player this year, having marked the tournament out as the pinnacle of his season.
Just about everything he has done in the last year, from skipping the French Open to bringing in 28-year-old doubles specialist Jonny O’Mara as a coach, has been geared towards making a deep run at the tournament he won in 2013 and 2016.
“I think certainly his best chance is at Wimbledon,” McEnroe adds. “He understands the nuances of grass better than anyone.
“I’ve actually been pleasantly surprised by his improved movement in the last couple of years. I’m sure he’s been inspired by Novak [Djokovic] because they are the same age and look at this guy who looks like he’s 25.
“So I’m amazed that he’s [Murray] been able to sort of get back and it’s been a long hard road. I’m pulling for him to do something.
“I put him in the top dozen players that understand what it takes to compete and do well on grass. So from that alone, if he gets a couple breaks here and there and gets going, who knows what could happen? Winning it… that’s a big ask, but you never know.”
What we do know is that Murray is much closer to his last Wimbledon than his first, although this week he told the Press Association that retirement “is something I have an idea about when it is I would like to stop and a plan for that – certainly nothing immediate.”
And McEnroe reckons that plan involves going out on a high, probably on Centre Court.
“This guy’s a Hall of Fame player that’s been in 11 grand slam finals, that wants to go out on his terms. He doesn’t want to go out when he’s hurt.”
Ideally, he would go out after lifting the Wimbledon trophy for a third time, crying into the microphone and sailing off into the sunset.
That is unlikely though, given he has not been back to the quarter-finals of a grand slam since limping out of the last eight at SW19 against Sam Querrey in 2017, the beginning of his hip ailments.
Instead, British hopes of a title, however slim, rest on the shoulders of Cameron Norrie. His run to the semi-final last year announced him to the wider British public, but he could only take a set off the great Novak Djokovic.
“I’m just generally impressed that Norrie has done as well… you know, he hit the top 10 and has really maximised his potential. He should be very proud of that,” McEnroe says.
“And he’s a much bigger win than he was, say, a year ago or two years ago. So that alone commands respect in the locker room.
“I’m sure for him he’d love to play Djokovic in the semis [again]. That means he’s in the semis.”
And what of Nick Kyrgios, the modern-day McEnroe, the bad boy of men’s tennis but also last year’s finalist who has played just one competitive match since October, and whose slow recovery from knee surgery might yet rule him out of Wimbledon?
“I remember seeing him last year in terms of his training, he looked fitter, he was moving better, he was more committed. And look what it resulted in. He was able to get to a Wimbledon final,” McEnroe adds.
“To me, he would be a major threat on grass if he is on. No one wants to play him, that I can assure you of. Obviously, if he’s back and fit and mentally sort of focused, he’s going to give it his all, then yes he can be a threat.”
