HE’S been shouted at by John McEnroe, hit with a racquet and stared down the barrel of a Goran Ivanisevic serve.

Yet, it was all in a day’s work for Worcester Lawn Tennis Club president Ray Needham who, for more than two decades, was one of the country’s leading line judges.

Progressing from the county ranks through to centre court at Wimbledon, the 69-year-old enjoyed an eventful career in the sport he loves.

Although retiring from the circuit 13 years ago, watching the action unfold at this year’s SW19 showpiece has rekindled memories.

Needham, who still plays competitively at the Northwick Close club, has been responsible for making split-second calls on many household names, and not always with the help of the technology which is commonplace today.

He said: “I was line judge for Pete Sampras against Goran Ivanesivic in the 1994 final and I was on the service line I remember it clearly.

“In those days we didn’t have Hawkeye but we did have an electronic line monitor called Cyclops which called the serves in or out.

“I remember as soon as I was walking onto centre court the service line judge that was coming off said ‘Ray, the monitor’s not working, it’s switched off’, and I froze because I knew it meant I had no Cyclops to use at all.

“I had to call the whole of my shift without Cyclops. The hour and-a-half flashed by, I can’t remember why it was so quick but I was just so grateful that I had seen every ball and got every ball right.”

On another occasion, he had the perhaps unenviable task of facing the 140mph serves of Greg Rusedski and Mark Philippoussis head on.

“I was on the centre service line,” said Needham, now a part-time magistrate who overcame prostate cancer in 2008.

“There are two things you’ve got to remember. You’ve got to see the ball, whether it’s in or out, and then you’ve got to look after yourself and take evasive action and that’s very difficult.

“It’s about half-a-second from the player hitting it to it reaching the other end so you have got to react and make sure you’re safe as well as calling the ball in or out.”

Sound advice, even if Needham, who also officiated in the 1989 final between Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, as well as Jana Novtona’s triumph in 1998, has felt the full force of a player’s wrath.

Although he can’t recall who it was, he explained: “At Edgbaston I called a serve a fault, the lady disagreed with me and in frustration threw her racquet towards her bag at the side of the court.

“She missed her bag and hit me right on the side of the neck and was instantly disqualified.

“She’s the only woman who’s been instantly disqualified for abuse of an official.”

Then there were the usual run-ins with McEnroe, whose theatrics were a far cry from what Needham is used to in his other passion with Worcester Operatic and Dramatic Society.

Needham, who has also been a chair umpire for junior and veterans’ matches at Wimbledon, said: “He was playing an Australian and I called one of his shots out that he thought was in.

“He did shout at me and said that was a rotten call, or something like that!

“When I looked at the replay afterwards on TV it looked as though he was right, I have to admit, but I thought it was out at the time.

“On reflection I think most of the time that McEnroe argued he was right because he was so sharp. His eyes were so good, I think he was right most of the time.”

But, with the technology now available in the game, does Needham wish it had been around during his career?

“No, I don’t think so but I do think that it’s a good thing to introduce technology,” he said.

“I think the time will come when they don’t need line judges, they’ll just have that piece of technology and it makes a sound when the ball is out, the same as the old Cyclops used to do.”