Becker Criticizes McEnroe, U.S. Team for Inciting Their Fans ‘Into a Frenzy’

Boris Becker, hero of West Germany’s Davis Cup victory over the United States, criticized John McEnroe and his team for whipping their fans into a frenzy.

Becker, interviewed by the West German sports news agency SID after winning the deciding singles against Tim Mayotte Sunday night in Hartford, Conn., said that the Americans had no right to complain of Davis Cup conditions in Latin America after the way they behaved in the world group relegation playoff.

“The U.S. players made their compatriots crazy,” he said. “They should never complain again about the South Americans.

“It was just as bad as in Mexico or Paraguay. John McEnroe’s behavior was especially disgraceful.”

Becker, 19, called McEnroe, formerly the game’s top-ranked male, a great player. He added, however, “I admire him as a tennis player, but I pity him as a person.”

And of the crowd-inciting behavior of the U.S. team as a whole, he said: “I find their actions simply a shame, nasty and brutish.”

“We are together (on the international circuit) 10 months of the year. . . . And here we are met with hate,” Becker said.

“The behavior of the fans is no big deal, that’s normal in the Davis Cup. But the fans were goaded by McEnroe and his men.”

The International Tennis Federation banned Paraguay from holding another Davis Cup playoff this year after incidents during the first round against the United States in Asuncion.