Tournament director reveals how he intentionally prevented John McEnroe from losing at 1987 Italian Open
Among the many controversial matches involving the hot-tempered John McEnroe back in the day, one match stands out. However, this match, between McEnroe and Franco Davin at the 1987 Italian Open, was not infamous because of an on-court outburst from McEnroe, but because of two random power outages that caused major shifts in momentum.
Sergio Palmieri, who was the Italian Open tournament director back then and continues to hold that position today, has revealed that he intentionally ordered a power cut to help a losing John McEnroe. Davin, who came into the main draw as a qualifier, led the American superstar by a set and a break before the first-round match was interrupted by two long power cuts. McEnroe ended up winning the match in three sets, making use of Davin's lost momentum.
Palmieri, who was also McEnroe's agent at the time, recently opened up about the incident during an interview with La Nacion, admitting that he asked one of the maintenance workers to cut down the stadium's power twice because he wanted to prevent McEnroe from losing. Palmieri's antics gave McEnroe a chance to regroup and snatch Davin's momentum, although McEnroe had no idea the power cut was intentional.
"I gave him (the maintenance worker) 100 thousand lire to turn off the lights. Lights go out, everyone goes to the locker room. And there I say to John, 'What the hell are you doing? Play this match'," Palmieri said about the same.
Palmieri said that the break caused by the power outage helped McEnroe calm down and win the next two sets easily. To not raise any suspicions about the first power cut, Palmieri ordered another cut in the same match and in another match the next day.
"He (McEnroe) cackled a bit but calmed down and then went and won the second and third sets pretty easily. To make things believable, I also had the power cut off a second time and in the following match," Palmieri further revealed.
The former Italian tennis player also revealed that a fight broke out between John McEnroe and Henri Leconte moments before the McEnroe-Davin match, and feels that it played a role in McEnroe's performance in the first set against Davin.
Palmieri said that the locker-room fight was violent, caused by a past disagreement between McEnroe and Leconte. Palmieri believes that the four-time US Open champion was distracted because of the fight and he ordered a power cut to help him refocus.
"John wasn't on the court... He was, but he wasn't. He was angry, thinking of Leconte. He didn't play, so he... He entered the court and didn't think about the match. And he played very nervous. He always was, but there…, I know him very well, there he really had his head out," Palmieri said of John McEnroe.
"I had no anger against McEnroe, not at all" - Franco Davin on the infamous match against John McEnroe
The incident infuriated Franco Davin, whose hunch about an intentional power cut was confirmed after Sergio Palmieri confessed to him years after the match. The 1987 Italian Open was John McEnroe's first-ever Italian Open appearance, leading to a huge buzz in Rome. Davin felt that McEnroe's progress was very important to the tournament organizers and that is why he was helped to avoid defeat.
While the Argentine player-turned-coach admitted to feeling very hurt after learning that his progress at the tournament was cut short due to such an incident, he defended John McEnroe, highlighting that the American always played by the rules. Davin said that he held no grudges against McEnroe as he was certain McEnroe had not asked for a power cut to help his cause.
"I had no anger against McEnroe, not at all. I didn't get mad at him. I realized that he didn't ask for that to be done. He did not go to the bathroom nor did he want to dirty the game for me. I never felt it against him, even though he was a difficult guy on the field, who made crazy messes. He insulted, he did the whole show, but I didn't feel at any time that he wanted to get an extra advantage," Davin said on the same, speaking to La Nacion.