John McEnroe and Sue Barker under fire after sending ‘love’ to Boris Becker during Wimbledon coverage

Shahida Jacobs
John McEnroe on the microphone at Wimbledon
John McEnroe on commentary duties at Wimbledon

John McEnroe and Sue Barker have been criticised after they “sent greetings” to Boris Becker during the BBC’s coverage on day one of Wimbledon 2022.

Six-time Grand Slam champion Becker was earlier this year sentenced to two and half years in prison after hiding £2.5m worth of assets and loans in an attempt to avoid paying debts.

The German was part of the BBC’s commentary team in 2021 and McEnroe expressed support for the 54-year-old who finds himself at the Huntercombe prison in Oxfordshire.

“Boris, we love you. We miss you, man,” American great McEnroe said during his commentary stint and Barker added: “We do indeed.”

But their comments did not go down well on Twitter.

“Any chance of throwing McEnroe off the Programme before he sends Greetings to Ghislaine Maxwell or Wayne Couzens via Licencepayers Airwaves ( Shame on Sue Barker also for agreeing) Boris Becker is a Convicted Criminal!!” one person tweeted.

Another added:” Totally fascinating to listen to John McEnroe and Chris Fowler discuss Boris Becker’s situation in prison and gloss over what happened. And then to have McEnroe say the “entire tennis community” is “pulling” for Becker was quite a leap. 🙄 #Wimbledon”

Before The Championships kicked off, McEnroe declared his support for Becker and said he planned to visit his “friend”.

“Boris is a friend of mine. This is just horrible. I want to see him if I possibly can and if he’s willing to see people,” he said.

“I just feel terrible. He’s one of the great players that has ever played the game, and I know it meant a lot to Boris. He’s been going through a lot for a long time.”

Related Articles