WIMBLEDON : Fitzgerald Takes Shot at McEnroe’s Tactics : Aussie Calls Incidents Unsportsmanlike

WIMBLEDON, England —  John McEnroe won a match Monday but he might have lost a friend.

John Fitzgerald of Australia took a few verbal shots at McEnroe after their fourth-round match, which McEnroe won in four sets.

“If I said what I really felt, I’d get into trouble,” said Fitzgerald, who was angry about an incident in the first set.

Fitzgerald was serving at 3-4 and had just broken McEnroe’s serve a second time. McEnroe missed Fitzgerald’s first serve and complained loudly to umpire Rudolf Berger than he hadn’t been given his 30 seconds to get ready.

According to the rules, only the server gets 30 seconds.

Fitzgerald was angry that McEnroe had held up the game over the misinterpretation of a rule.

“All I can really say is that a leopard doesn’t change his spots,” Fitzgerald said. “He tries to let everyone believe that he’s changed his ways, but that’s ridiculous.

“I just don’t understand why the public support this guy.”

McEnroe received a warning from Berger for unsportsmanlike conduct.

“Well, I didn’t know the rule,” McEnroe said. “I mean that’s my fault, I suppose. I was just trying to pull myself together in what I thought was a 30-second time period.”

Fitzgerald was incredulous.

“He thought he had 30 seconds to receive?” he said. “Mate, if he didn’t know that . . . He’s been around how many years?”

McEnroe’s reputation is not something Fitzgerald was unprepared for.

“Sure, he’s a great tennis player . . . but it’s something you always know you’re going to have to deal with when you go onto the court with the guy,” Fitzgerald said.

“I think you’ll find there’s quite a number of players that are not happy with how he gets away with everything, because he’s doing it against them. I mean, I don’t mind playing Mats (Wilander) or Ivan (Lendl) or someone like that (because) they beat you fair and square.

“You know, most of the time, (the other players) are playing decent, respectable opposition and they’re not used to dealing with this sort of . . . gamesmanship. . . . He does it whenever he gets tight or in trouble. He uses it, every time, whether there’s something wrong or not. He makes something up--the balls are not round or something. He’ll use that or anything.

“It’s pretty tough to respect a guy like that, I think.”