Tennis legend John McEnroe and Melbourne radio host Neil Mitchell went toe-to-toe about McEnroe’s protest to rename Margaret Court Arena.

McEnroe and Martina Navratilova protested with a sign that called for a rename from Margaret Court Arena to Evonne Goolagong Arena in honour of the Aussie 24-time grand slam champion.

The pair were forced to apologise after breaking Tennis Australia protocols for their protest, but Mitchell made sure it was addressed when he spoke to McEnroe on the radio.

Neil Mitchell: Do you regret doing it?

John McEnroe: I think it could have been done better and more effectively. But in terms of regret doing it, no. I apologised because I haven’t been one to have perhaps read the rule book as good as I could have. I was unaware there were certain protocols that needed to be followed. I get where Tennis Australia is trying to … handle this as non-vocally as possible. But in this particular case, I believe there’s been a lot of give and take both ways. I loved Evonne Goolagong when I was a kid and I think she represents to me everything positive about what you’d want a stadium to be named.

Neil Mitchell:  A lot of the letter writers and reaction from the public is ‘this insulted Australia’. What’s your reaction to that?

John McEnroe:  I think that’s a little going overboard, personally. Tennis Australia and I have had an excellent relationship – they’ve done a fantastic job with this tournament and made it bigger and better each and every year. To say that I’m insulting Australia – I don’t see where you can take it to that level. That certainly wasn’t what we were planning on doing. I’ve had a lot of history in Australia. Australia is a great sporting country and a great place to visit for the players, and myself. That would not be intentional and I’d be quite surprised if people felt that way.

The conversation continued, with the pair discussing whether or not a ban to some countries would be appropriate, but McEnroe clarified that he never used that wording. The conversation became heated once Mitchell asked McEnroe if his accreditation was threatened by Tennis Australia.

Neil Mitchell:  Did Tennis Australia threaten your accreditation or did they just ask you to apologise?

John McEnroe:  As far as I know, that wasn’t threatened. Perhaps if there is more people like you, maybe they will reconsider it, I don’t know.

Neil Mitchell:  What do you mean more people like me?

John McEnroe:  You seem to have a view that you completely disagree and either subtly or forcefully you’re not agreeing with which is OK. It also sounds like you’re insinuating, to me at least, maybe I’m overreaching here but it seems like you’re looking at perhaps they (Tennis Australia) should do more.

Neil Mitchell:  I’m not. And I can tell you I’ve been one of the strongest supporters of marriage equality in this country.

John McEnroe:  Well that I don’t know because I don’t….

Neil Mitchell:  I know, OK fair enough.

John McEnroe:  I hope that’s true.

Neil Mitchell:  What do you mean you hope that’s true? Of course it is true.

John McEnroe:  Listen mate, I’ve got a match in a little bit. It’s OK to disagree with me but you don’t have to try to like, you know, with the way you’re talking to me, it seems like you’re looking for trouble. But that’s OK. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Neil Mitchell:  Well you’re the one that questioned me there about whether I was telling the truth.

John McEnroe:  I said I don’t know. I didn’t say whether you did or did not. That is a perfect example. I don’t know. Whatever. Whatever makes you happy is fine.

Neil Mitchell:  Enjoy the tennis and thank you very much for speaking to us.

It was here that McEnroe hung up. The morning seemed to get worse for the American tennis legend, where sports presenter Tony Jones tried to make a joke and it fell flat.

The pair were watching a young girl play tennis and McEnroe said that he wished he had footage of me when he was that age.

Jones quickly swiped back, saying that “I don’t think it would’ve been [in] colour”.

McEnroe laughed and tried to recover, explaining that the remark was “harsh but probably true”.

When Jones wished him luck for his game on court three, McEnroe said that he should “go get my wood racket, along with the black and white tv you apparently used to watch me on”.

McEnroe then explained that it had been a “tough couple days, I guess, and have to keep taking those punches in and stay tough.”