John McEnroe was issued with a swift warning from BBC presenter Clare Balding on Monday over a 'sex' joke he cracked during the broadcaster's live coverage of Wimbledon.
Tennis legend John, a three time Wimbledon champion, has been a regular in the commentary box for the BBC at SW!9 for years now and has been back on duty for this year's event, as well as juggling other pundit duties for American TV.. He was in frint of camera for the BBC as play was about to get going on Centre Court between Ons Jabeur and Petra Kvitova.
Looking up at the rather threatening sky above her, main presenter Clare, a replacements for long-serving Wimbledon anchor Sue Barker, said: "Ons Jabeur is looking up at the sky above, wondering if it's going to rain. I think the answer is no. But it is overcast. It's one of those days that would see a bit of swing on the ball in cricket."
READ MORE: Clare Balding cracks BBC 'joke' as Wimbledon coverage cut short for repeat
Replying to her, former British number one Tim Henman remarked: "ep, definitely. Good conditions for the seamers!" Clearly not following the cricket reference, John interrupted: "Are the swingers the ones who don't throw it as hard? Is that what swingers are? We have different definitions in the States!"
HIs comment prompted an interjection from Clare, who looked set to give him a bit of a ticking off as she chimed in: ""We're talking about something completely different, John! It's not a channel for that sort of talk,"
John's joke came hours before the BBC came under fire from viewers for bringing its live coverage of the Carlos Alcaraz v Matteo Berrettini to an abrupt end, in order to air a repeat of DIY SOS. While the game finished shortly before 9pm, the time DIY SOS was mean t to start, viewers assumed that BBC cameras would stay on the court to hear Alcaraz's post match interview, especially given the fact he had just reached the Wimbledon quarter finals for the first time ever.
But instead, Clare brought things to a sudden conclusion and told fans at home they'd be able to watch the interview in full online instead.
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