John McEnroe Calls For Player’s Move At Wimbledon To Be Banned

John McEnroe Calls For Player’s Move At Wimbledon To Be Banned originally appeared on The Spun.

John McEnroe is on the call of the Carlos Alcaraz-Andrey Rublev Round of 16 match at Wimbledon on Sunday.

Alcaraz, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, is rolling toward what looks like a four set victory. Rublev took the first set in a tiebreaker, winning 7-6. He was extremely fired up with the victory. 

The Spanish tennis star has since rallied back, though. Alcaraz, a five-time Grand Slam champion who is coming off a historic win at the French Open, won his next two sets against Rublev. He’s looking strong in the fourth set, too.

But McEnroe, who won seven Grand Slam titles, is taking issue with one of Rublev’s moves during the match.

McEnroe is taking issue with what might have been some gamesmanship from Rublev.

Toward the end of the third set, in the middle of a game, Rublev called for a pause in the action, so he could change out his tennis racket. It’s extremely rare to see a player change out their racket during the middle of a game, unless there is some kind of mechanical issue, like a string breaking or the racket getting damaged. You’ll see players change rackets over the course of a game – Roger Federer would go through six to nine rackets over the course of a five-set match – but it’s extremely rare to see it happen in the middle of a single game.

Rublev did it against Alcaraz on Sunday, though. 

ESPN announcer Chris Fowler was puzzled by the move. So, too, was McEnroe. Fowler thought it might have been strategic.

“A bit of gamesmanship?” he asked McEnroe.

McEnroe didn’t hesitate with his response. He thinks the move should be outlawed.

“They just shouldn’t let him do it,” McEnroe said of Rublev’s move on Sunday.

Rublev is known for his fiery personality and he’ll often go through a lot of different rackets during the course of his matches.

But McEnroe has made it clear that he thinks Rublev’s move of switching out a racket during the middle of an individual game is unacceptable.

Wimbledon will continue play on ABC and ESPN this week.

John McEnroe Calls For Player’s Move At Wimbledon To Be Banned first appeared on The Spun on Jul 6, 2025

This story was originally reported by The Spun on Jul 6, 2025, where it first appeared.