The English Sporting Summer Of 1981
(From the Paul Rance book, Made in Luton)
John McEnroe’s First Wimbledon Title
1981 was the year of John McEnroe’s meltdown at Wimbledon, with his screaming: “You CANNOT be serious!… You are the pits of the world” at an umpire. There seemed a lot of pomposity at Wimbledon then, and this long-haired, headbandwearing, mouthy American was as entertaining for his brilliant tennis as he was for his outbursts. Bjorn Borg, who was now the opposite of McEnroe (though the Swede had been a ‘bad boy’ in his teens on a tennis court) in terms of temperament, had been involved in a spellbinding match with McEnroe in the final of a year earlier, which Borg had won to complete five Wimbledon wins in succession. It seemed like Borg was going to win every Wimbledon forever. But Borg’s invincibility had shown signs of fading in ’80, and in ’81 McEnroe dethroned him. I’m not sure either man could believe it at the end.
Our neighbours in Warden Hill Road had the surname McEnroe. They were embarrassed by Johnny Mac’s antics, as they obviously felt that he was bringing their name into disrepute!
This was the golden era of men’s tennis for me, with Borg, McEnroe and Jimmy Connors slugging it out in a series of epic matches in the late ’70s and early ’80s.
