John McEnroe once lashed out at Andre Agassi’s former coach Brad Gilbert after the latter beat him.

The year was 1986 and the two locked horns in the first round of the 1985 ATP Finals (then known as the Masters). McEnroe was seeded second and won the first set 7-5 against the unseeded Gilbert. However, the then-24-year-old made a fine comeback to register a 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 win and reach the quarterfinals where he would lose to Anders Jarryd.

Andre Agassi’s former coach wrote about the match in his book “Winning Ugly” and stated that McEnroe told him that he did not belong to be on the same court as him.

“‘Gilbert, you don’t deserve to be on the same court with me! You are the worst! The f***ing worst,'” Brad Gilbert wrote as quoted by Salon.

John McEnroe said after the match that he needed to reconsider what he was doing playing tennis if he lost to the likes of Brad Gilbert.

“When I start losing to players like HIM, I’ve got to reconsider what I’m doing even playing this game,” the then-World No. 1 said as quoted by Deseret.

John McEnroe ended up taking a seven-month sabbatical from tennis after his loss to Brad Gilbert in January 1986. He did not play another match until August that year, when he competed at the Volvo International in Stratton Mountain.

John McEnroe has a 13-1 head-to-head lead over Brad Gilbert

John McEnroe and Brad Gilbert locked horns on 14 occasions, with the former coming out on top 13 times. The 1985 Masters encounter between the two was the only time Gilbert beat the former World No. 1.

The first encounter between the two came in the third round of the 1983 Wimbledon Championships, with McEnroe winning 6-2, 6-2, 6-2. This was also the only Grand Slam meeting between them.

McEnroe and Gilbert squared off in two finals, the first of which came at San Francisco in 1984, with the then-World No. 1 winning 6-4, 6-4. Their second title clash was in 1989 at the now-defunct World Championship Tennis Finals and this time, McEnroe won 6-3, 6-3, 7-6.

The last match between the two came in the quarterfinals of the now-defunct Norstar Bank Hamlet Challenge Cup in 1990, and the former World No. 1 won 6-3, 6-2. He went on to reach the semifinals of the tournament before losing to eventual champion Stefan Edberg.