"I was playing with my girlfriend and I was stressing out"- When John McEnroe begged not to be fined after Wimbledon mixed doubles outburst

John McEnroe claimed that he once begged the Wimbledon committee not to fine him when he was competing in the mixed doubles event with his girlfriend at the time.

The year was 1978 and McEnroe was dating Stacy Margolin. The two reached the second round of the Wimbledon mixed doubles category before losing 8-9, 7-5, 9-7 to Chris Kachel and Illana Kloss.

The American wrote in his book "You Cannot be Serious", released in 2002, that he got fined $500 during the match for throwing his racket and shouting a few obscenities.

"Talk about putting pressure on a relationship! In 1978, right after I turned pro, we played mixed at Wimbledon, and in our third-round loss, I got fined $500 for throwing my racket and yelling some obscenities," McEnroe said.

McEnroe shared that the fines were hefty for him at the time, right at the beginning of his professional career.

"We hadn’t made any money—in those days, you had to get to the quarters in the Wimbledon mixed before you won a dime—and so there I was, right out of the gate in my professional career, starting to rack up the fines," McEnroe said.

The former World No. 1 said that he begged the Wimbledon committee not to fine him. McEnroe was eventually let off with a warning.

"I actually went in and begged the Wimbledon Committee: 'Please, don’t fine me, I was playing with my girlfriend and I was stressing out.' It’s hard to believe, after all that happened there over the years, but they let me off the hook. They said, 'All right, don’t let it happen again,'" he added.

John McEnroe's best performance in the mixed doubles event at Wimbledon came in 1999 when he partnered Steffi Graf. The pair reached the semifinals but had to to withdraw as Graf wanted to be at her best for the women's singles final.

John McEnroe won the men's singles title thrice at Wimbledon

John McEnroe won the Wimbledon men's singles title thrice throughout his career. His first triumph at the grass-court Major came in 1981 when he beat Bjorn Borg in a thrilling final.

His second Wimbledon title came in 1983 after beating Chris Lewis in the final. The American successfully defended his title the following year by defeating rival Jimmy Connors in the final.

Apart from his singles wins, McEnroe also won the men's doubles title at Wimbledon five times from 1979-1992. Peter Fleming was his partner in his first four wins, Michael Stich teamed up with him in 1992.