JOHN MCENROE jokingly told Carlos Alcaraz to “come over to my place” live on BBC TV.
The outspoken American, 65, is on commentary and punditry duties for the Beeb at Wimbledon once again this year.
He heaped praise on the reigning champion Alcaraz in the studio.
And Mac is particularly impressed by the 21-year-old Spaniard’s relentless positivity – and reckons he could learn a thing or two.
Three-time winner McEnroe famously got into plenty of scraps and spats with umpires at Wimbledon – regularly arguing over line calls, prompting his iconic catchphrase “you cannot be serious”.
Alcaraz, however, is known for his joyful personality, often smiling during matches even when losing.
And the stark contrast led to McEnroe’s brilliant BBC quip.
He said: “He had that positive attitude which helped.
“You watch Carlos Alcaraz he’s always smiling, whatever the score is he’s amazing.
I don’t know how he does it but it’s never too late to teach an old man, come over to my place sometime.”
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Alcaraz became the youngest men’s world No1 in history when he won the 2022 US Open.
He backed that up by defeating Novak Djokovic in an epic Wimbledon final last year over five thrilling sets.
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And after Alcaraz beat Alexander Zverev to claim the French Open in June, he secured his third Grand Slam title from three finals.
His talent has even led to McEnroe claiming the Murcia machine is better than Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Djokovic at 21.
McEnroe added: “This guy can do anything and everything – and he does do that.
“He brings the crowd in, the crowd is eating it up, thank the lord for Carlos Alcaraz is what I’m saying. We are lucky.
“He’s got better touch, arguably, than anyone else in the game and even Novak Djokovic is thinking, ‘OK I need to bring my A game, A-plus game’.
“That was one of the greatest matches I have ever seen, the Wimbledon final last year, unbelievable match.
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“Novak was in position to win but somehow Alcaraz was able to rise to the occasion and beat the greatest of all time.”
McEnroe also jumped to Djokovic’s defence during a brilliant four-minute rant on the BBC following the Serb’s Centre Court wind-up.
The seven-time Wimbledon champion, 37, felt that he was “disrespected” by rowdy SW19 punters during his match against Holger Rune on Monday night – sarcastically telling them to have a “goooood night” and proclaiming “you can’t touch me”.
McEnroe said: “Well done. He’s been battling this for his whole career. And yes he feeds off negative energy and yes I did feed off it at times but I hated it.
“He’s like the Darth Vader. There’s two of the most class acts we’ve ever seen in tennis: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
“Who can compare to them in terms of what they brought to the table and the way people loved them? Nobody!
“And then this guy Djokovic has the nerve to come in and break into the party.”
