John McEnroe appeared on the BBC's Wimbledon coverage on Tuesday dressed in an all-black outfit, explaining he was in mourning after the USA's 4-1 World Cup defeat to Belgium. The 67-year-old tennis legend joined presenter Isa Guha and fellow pundit Tracy Austin on BBC Two to discuss the all-American Centre Court quarter-final between Jessica Pegula and Coco Gauff, which came just hours after the US team's round-of-16 exit in Seattle.
McEnroe's sombre attire and remarks
Despite the sweltering conditions at the All England Club, McEnroe wore a black overshirt over a black t-shirt. He admitted he was gutted to wake up in London and discover the result. After Guha opened the coverage, McEnroe said: "Good morning by the way!" Austin replied: "Good morning Johnny Mac! He just got here 10 seconds ago. He always knows when to show up. How do you do that?" McEnroe responded: "You know, it's been about 35 years. I like being on time though. I hate being late."
Guha then asked: "What happened to your Oasis t-shirt though?" The previous day, McEnroe had worn merchandise from the British rock group after England's victory over Mexico. McEnroe replied: "Well that was for England. This is black in mourning for our US team which bombed out. I fortunately didn't stay up to watch it cause I wanted to get prepped for this and get ready and do a couple of hours of studying this morning."
US World Cup defeat and McEnroe's disappointment
The USA suffered a crushing 4-1 loss to Belgium, with Charles De Ketelaere scoring twice, and Hans Vanaken and Romelu Lukaku adding to the tally. Lukaku mocked Donald Trump after his stoppage-time strike. McEnroe said: "It was sort of disappointing to look and see 4-1 Belgium. Back to the drawing board." He also drew parallels with American men's tennis, noting it has been 23 years since Andy Roddick won the US Open. "We're pushing, we're praying. Taylor Fritz has a shot this year, absolutely!" he added.
During commentary on Jannik Sinner's match against Jan-Lennard Struff, McEnroe remarked: "Thank god I went to bed before that. 4-1, to Belgium? Come on! We've got a ways to go. It's like the men's tour in the tennis, it's been 23 years, even worse in soccer, football. Oh boy. But it's all good, it's positive, it looks a great World Cup so that's the good news."
