John McEnroe was 'ready to strangle someone' as BBC pundit complains on air

John McEnroe was bemused that Jack Draper was wearing a hat for his first-round Wimbledon clash with Sebastian Baez and light-heartedly said he was "ready to strangle someone" when he did the same. British No. 1 Draper braved the heat to begin his SW19 campaign as the number four seed with plenty of expectation on his shoulders, with many electing him the heir to Andy Murray.

American tennis icon McEnroe talked up Draper as a potential Grand Slam winner, but insisted he would not have been able to copy the 23-year-old's outfit on Centre 1. Draper was decked out in customary all-white, including a cap. But McEnroe felt that donning any sort of hat in such heat would have only detracted from his ability to play well.

Temperatures soared in south-west London on the hottest day of the year in the UK and figures reached 34.2 Celsius by mid-afternoon at the All England Club.

And McEnroe joked that he was ready to get physical after wearing a hat during a warm-up during his playing days, baffled that Draper decided to wear one against Baez throughout the contest.

"I like hats but when I played the brim would get in my eyesight and it felt like I was getting hotter, I was already hot enough to start, I didn't need to get hotter," he said while commentating for the BBC. "I was ready to strangle someone in the warm-up. To each his own."

McEnroe had already threatened to get co-commentator Simon Reed in trouble with the Beeb for his comments on the match.

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Draper coasted through the first set to take a 6-2 lead when Reed claimed that they were witnessing what felt "like a practice match."

McEnroe quickly stepped in to say: "I don't think the All England Club will be too happy with you saying this first-round match on Court 1 is practice."

The pair chuckled and Reed ended the conversation by telling McEnroe: "You know what I mean."

Draper wrapped up that first set in just 28 minutes in a statement win against his world No. 38 opponent, who retired in the third set, having watched his quarter of the draw open up slightly due to Alexander Bublik's surprise defeat.

Draper may need to beat each of Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz if he wants to follow in Murray's footsteps and win his home major, but McEnroe thinks that he has a chance of doing just that.

"I'm most impressed with how Jack Draper is moving in the last year or so and how much of a factor that is in his rise to number four in the world," McEnroe said before the match.

"Jack Draper is the fourth favourite to win this tournament. He has got himself incredibly fit. This is a good first-round opponent to play and he will hope to get off the court quickly.

"He could win a major for the first time in his life, this is about dealing with the nerves. That's pressure but it's also a pretty cool feeling."