McEnroe bored by top tennis stars

John McEnroe has criticised today’s tennis players for being too boring – and described Tim Henman as a classic case.

The 45-year-old former Wimbledon champion says players who lack personality are in danger of killing the game.

He told the Radio Times that today’s stars are “robotic”, adding: “They’re Darth Vader types to me.

“OK, so they’re great athletes. But where’s the passion? The feeling?,” he says.

“It seems to me that even if you, the audience, really dislike the guy on the court, it’s better to feel that than to feel nothing.”

The BBC Wimbledon commentator describes Henman as “the classic example” and has advice for the British number one: “Get with the fans.

“They are rooting for you! Respond to them, harness their energy, love them back!”

He adds: “If he could do that, Henman could win on grass. Call it acting, but it would energise the game. We need more daring attempts to entertain.”

McEnroe’s tantrums – he would burst into tears, throw down his racket and terrorise the umpire – earned him the nickname Superbrat.

He says of today’s stars: “The players don’t seem happy to be out there.

“I want to take them aside and tell them; ‘Hey, There are not many jobs out there better than being a professional athlete’.

“They are trained so young, and focused so young by parental ambition, that I think they get burned out by 21.

“I played soccer and basketball as well as tennis: I had a life.”

McEnroe, winner of three men’s singles titles at Wimbledon and the US Open three years in succession, tells the magazine: “They walk around in a bubble that’s all professional sport and no life. We need to work out a way of promoting them, or the game will go down."

The fiery American, who is married to rock singer Patty Smyth, said his time in the 1980s was different.