McEnroe Suspended; Calls Umpire ‘Worst I’ve Seen’

An irate John McEnroe raged at the umpire after being upset by little-known Sergio Casal of Spain 6-3, 7-6 today in the quarterfinals of the $625,000 Paris Open tennis tournament and was promptly fined and suspended.

“You are the worst umpire I’ve seen in my life!” the tempestuous American star yelled at chair umpire Jeremy Shales of Britain as he packed his bag and stormed off the court after the match.

“You’ll never work another one of my matches again!” McEnroe shouted.

After the outburst, McEnroe was fined $3,000, forcing a 42-day suspension from tournament play because he exceeded his fine limit for the year although he had taken six months off.

Since McEnroe has 10 days to appeal the fine, tournament officials said he will be allowed to continue doubles play, in which he and partner Peter Fleming have reached the semifinals.

Casal, a 24-year-old from Barcelona, is ranked 100th in the world. McEnroe entered the tournament as the fifth seed and the world’s 10th-ranked player.

The upset broke a streak of three straight tournament victories for McEnroe, renowned for his constant battles with officials.

“I don’t mind them making bad decisions,” McEnroe said. “What I do mind is them making bad decisions on match point and set point.”

McEnroe said he was upset by what he considered bad line calls, and angry with the umpire for refusing to change the decisions.

Shales, one of the regular umpires on the tennis circuit, was the chair umpire at Boca West in the Lipton International tournament in February that resulted in a 10-week suspension for Jimmy Connors.