John McEnroe gives his verdict on the march of the robots at Wimbledon - and what it means for his infamous meltdowns

As Wimbledon embraces the march of the robots, replacing line judges with the automated calling system used across the tour, it feels appropriate to ask John McEnroe what he makes of it all.

The three-time Wimbledon champion’s rows with officialdom, especially the immortal line, ‘You cannot be serious’, have entered All England Club folklore.

He clearly felt hard done by over the years, so does McEnroe wish they had electronic line calling in his day?

‘Yes, I do, actually,’ the 66-year-old replies. ‘I'd have less white hair, and I might have a little more of it. 

'I would have wasted less energy.’

But there is also an acknowledgement that he would not be the figure he is today without those infamous meltdowns, and that speaks to the sense that, with the departure of line judges, we are losing one splash of colour from the tennis palette.

‘Maybe I would have been more boring,’ reflects McEnroe. 

‘Maybe I wouldn’t be here, speaking to you now and I wouldn’t be commentating. I've got to look at the bright side.

‘There's something in the interaction, I believe, that people will miss. 

'Hopefully it's 100 per cent accurate, or 99.9 per cent I don't know what it is - you’d hate to have to find out later that a call that was made on match point was not accurate, that would be truly infuriating.’

You can almost feel his anger bubbling at this hypothetical error.

‘I had obviously a long history with linesmen, but it seems like if they have electronic equipment that works, that's preferable. 

'As fast as the balls are being hit, expecting human beings to be able to get every call right is a big ask, even for someone who complained a lot about it!’

Moving away from the lines, McEnroe believes this Wimbledon represents Novak Djokovic’s best - if not quite his last - chance to win his 25th Grand Slam title.

‘It’s his best chance at Wimbledon,’ says McEnroe. 

‘I wouldn’t say it’s his last chance but he’s 38 and to potentially have to beat both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, at a certain age it gets tougher to bounce back.

‘But it’s more forgiving physically at Wimbledon that it would be at the French or in the heat in Australia or New York. 

'And he understands the nuances of grass court tennis better than Sinner at this point. 

'Alcaraz, if he’s on it seems like it would be hard for anyone to beat him but he’s not necessarily going to be on the whole time.

‘It looks like Novak is going to keep playing next year so I wouldn’t say it’s his last chance, but how many more are there?’