John McEnroe unloads on Aussie tennis 'soap opera'

A number of experts have described the current state of Australian tennis as a soap opera.

But John McEnroe has taken it one step further, turning the ongoing feud between Lleyton Hewitt and his players into an actual soap opera called ‘Thunder Down Under’.

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In his regular video segment for Eurosport, the self-appointed commissioner of tennis has taken the mickey out of the saga and unloaded.

The segment is undoubtedly light-hearted and satirical, but it still shows how Australian tennis is an international laughing stock at the moment.

Putting on a voice you’d normally only hear on a reality TV show or daytime drama, McEnroe says: “Previously on Thunder Down Under, Bernard lost in the first round and got really angry at Lleyton.”

“‘Nobody likes you Lleyton. And Nick and Thanasi feel exactly the same way’.

“Meanwhile, Nick took to Instagram to complain that Lleyton, the Davis Cup captain, was only interested in Alex the Demon and couldn’t care less about John (Millman) and Matthew (Ebden).

“Lleyton fought back and accused Bernard of threatening and blackmailing him. ‘He’s a clown mate. He won’t ever play Davis Cup if I have anything to do with it’.

“But Bernard wouldn’t have it. ‘I dare Lleyton to come within one metre of me if he is a man’.

“While Thanasi chose to stay quiet, Lleyton took a jab at Nick. ‘Nick is not meeting the cultural standards to play for Australia and his social media antics are unacceptable’.

“Bernie was not done with Lleyton. ‘To think how low a person you are. That’s why the Australian public never liked you’.

“Nick tried to elevate the debate. ‘It’s ridiculous man. With all the issues going on all over the world we’ve decided to focus on this’.

“So will Lleyton and Bernard fight each other in a dramatic face off? Will Nick tackle the issues of the world? Will Alex DM, Alex B or Alexei and Ashleigh save the day for Tennis Australia? Will class act Rod Laver teach this brat pack a lesson or two? Will Margaret Court perform an exorcism on all of them? Will John Newcombe finally shave his moustache? All this and more next week on Thunder Down Under.”

Tomic threatens Legal action against Hewitt

The sorry saga continued on Saturday when John Tomic said he planned legal action against Hewitt over an incident he claimed occurred in 2010 when his son was a Davis Cup debutant.

At the time Bernard was 17 and he alleged the teenager was left traumatised.

John Tomic claimed to the Sydney Morning Herald that Hewitt came to his son’s hotel room during an Australian tie against Taiwan in March 2010 and pressured him to inform who from Tennis Australia was telling him what to say publicly.

Hewitt, who was not playing after hip surgery, had at the time been highly critical of TA during a period of turmoil for the sport’s governing body.

“He tried to force him to say something,” Tomic senior told the newspaper. “Bernard was shocked, he couldn’t sleep all night.

“How can you come in the room and threaten him and say you won’t play Davis Cup and say you won’t be close to me if you don’t tell me who from Tennis Australia is telling you what to say?”

He told the newspaper he would take legal action against Hewitt next week.

“We will prove that Bernard has trauma from 2010 when Bernard was the youngest player in Davis Cup for Australia,” he said.

“They will try to protect him but we will find the truth in the court.”

with agencies