02 The Breaking Point | SNAP
4/26/202642 min
Under fierce heat and building tension, John McEnroe battles an opponent that won’t react, officials that won’t bend, and conditions that won't yield. An unfavourable baseline call sparks a silent confrontation and a code violation. As patience wears thin, McEnroe plunges ahead unaware that the rules have changed, and he's a step closer to the edge than he realises.
Featuring (alphabetically): Gerry Armstrong, Peter Bellinger, Pat Cash, Jim Courier, Tim Henman, Di Larkin, John McEnroe, Patrick McEnroe, Paul McNamee, Mark Petchey, Barbara Schett, Sam Smith, and Todd Woodbridge.
Writer and editor: Lochlainn Harte
Narrator and producer: Jon Hoevenaars
Supervising producer: Adrian Houghton
Executive producer: Xavier Muhlebach
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First 90 secondsJon Hoevenaars0:00
[instrumental music] Three weeks after the Hopman Cup. Three weeks after Peter Bellinger bent the rules to save him. Three weeks after a compassionate decision set the stage for catastrophe. Melbourne, January 21, 1990, Sunday afternoon. You're listening to Snap: The John McEnroe Default Saga. Episode two, The Breaking Point. [crickets] January 21, 1990, Flinders Park. The officials arrive first. They always do. Before the photographers, before the broadcasters, before the thousands of fans who will queue at the gates in the heat. The referees, the line umpires, the supervisors file in and take stock of what they've got. What they've got today is a fourth-round match, John McEnroe versus Mikael Pernfors, center court, the tournament's biggest draw playing the tournament's quietest Swede. [tennis racket] And there's something else, [tennis racket] something that's been building since the first serve was struck three days earlier.
Speaker 2· Soundbite1:16
15 love.
Jon Hoevenaars1:17
[crowd cheering] Something that every player at Flinders Park has noticed, complained about, been driven half mad by.
Todd Woodbridge· Guest1:25
I mean, I was there. I was at the tournament, and there were several factors to what