THE UMPIERE WHO SCHOOLED MCENROE

THE UMPIERE WHO SCHOOLED MCENROE

John McEnroe was a champion and an extremely famous tennis superstar. However, what made him famous or infamous was his behavior and reaction during the game. He was known for abusing the crowd, the opponent, his coach and he would not even spare the umpires.

Had YouTube been there in the 90s, Gerry Armstrong would have become a sensation. Gerry carved a niche for himself calling matches from the chair and as a supervisor on the ATP Tour since 1987, but he is better known as the umpire who belled the cat that was John McEnroe.

“Verbal abuse, audible obscenity, Mr McEnroe. Default. Game, set and match awarded to Pernfors (Mikael),” announced Gerry from the chair defaulting McEnroe at the 1990 Australian Open after the maverick American unleashed a verbal volley on the umpire. McEnroe had already been warned twice in the match for intimidating a lineswoman and smashing a racquet. The archived footage of Gerry punishing McEnroe is a cherished video on YouTube.

Years later when Gerry was asked what gave him the courage to take such a decision during the match, he said, “ I hail from British family of tennis umpires, but I started as a linesman before going through the ranks. No superstar, not even Mr. McEnroe has to right to abuse anyone, especially the linesman. “