John McEnroe says Wimbledon bosses ‘shouldn’t allow’ finalists to wear headphones before stepping out onto Centre Court going forward.
McEnroe made the comment ahead of the women’s singles final, in which Iga Swiatek dished out the first 6-0 6-0 scoreline in over a century.
Both Swiatek and her opponent, Amanda Anisimova, were seen listening to music ahead of their showdown at the All England Club.
Anisimova was spotted with AirPods in her ears, although removed them before stepping onto the turf, whilst Swiatek wore larger headphones.
McEnroe suggested that Wimbledon finalists should be banned from blocking out the noise ahead of such an important match.
‘They (Wimbledon) shouldn’t allow them to wear AirPods or headphones,’ McEnroe said on commentary duties for the BBC.
‘You have got to get them to enjoy this (atmosphere) instead of playing some music. Come on now, ladies.’
Swiatek has previously said that she enjoys listening to rock music ahead of her matches – and has reeled off a number of her favourite bands.
‘There’s some AC/DC, Guns N’ Roses, Led Zeppelin, The Rolling Stones,’ Swiatek said.
‘So yeah, rock but not too hard. Everybody’s asking me if I listen to that all the time.
‘They keep buying me vinyl records and everything, and I’m like, ‘Guys, if I listen to that all the time, I wouldn’t be able to sleep!’ – so it’s just pre-match, just to pump myself up.
‘I try to treat every match the same way, and if I realise this is one of the most important matches of the season it stresses me out.
‘So I just listen to music – Led Zeppelin, it really pumps me up – and use everything to help me.’
McEnroe: Anisimova ‘absolutely froze’
Meanwhile, McEnroe says Anisimova ‘absolutely froze’ after she lost 6-0 6-0 to Swiatek in the Wimbledon final.
‘Everyone is in a state of shock at what just transpired,’ McEnroe said.
‘I’ve got to hand it to Swiatek because nobody saw this coming, nobody saw Swiatek being this good on this surface after the struggles she’s had.
‘She played fantastic, it was a fantastic hour against someone who absolutely froze which is really, really hard to watch and I feel terrible for Anisimova. But well deserved for Iga.’
