Top 15 Tennis Player Outbursts

Some outbursts are so spectacular that they’re still famous decades later. John McEnroe’s 1981 tantrum at Wimbledon gave rise to the classic phrase “You cannot be serious!” which he repeated at later matches and which even inspired the title of his autobiography. During a first-round match against fellow American Tom Gullikson, McEnroe disagreed umpire Edward James over a call, arguing he had hit the ball inside the court. “You can’t be serious man, you cannot be serious!” he bellowed, rising to a spectacular crescendo that elicited an audible gasp from the audience. “That ball was on the line. Chalk flew up! How can you possibly call that out?!” He later called James the “absolute pits of the world,” The umpire responded by awarding a point against the 23-year-old. The audience applauded. McEnroe then swore at the tournament referee, prompting another point penalty. McEnroe went on to defeat his Swedish arch-rival Bjorn Borg in the final, earning his 1st Wimbledon title and angrily smashing a racket in the process.

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