John McEnroe

John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. (born February 16 1959 in Wiesbaden, Germany) is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. He is considered to be one of the greatest players of all time. During his career, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles: three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open. He is remembered for his shot-making artistry and supreme volleying; for his matches against Björn Borg; for his fiery on-court temperament, which frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities; and for the catchphrase "You cannot be serious!" directed toward umpires. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1999.

Playing Style

McEnroe's game combined shot-making artistry, deft volleys, and a fast, attacking style of play. His sharp reflexes enabled him to return the biggest serves and passing shots masterfully, and the variety, delicacy and quickness of his play delighted crowds. But McEnroe also quickly became known for his competitive fire and volatile temper. Verbal outbursts seemed to be a key way in which he motivated himself to battle through tough situations during matches, but this frequently got him into trouble.

Early success

McEnroe was born in the U.S military base at Wiesbaden, where his father was stationed with the United States Air Force. He is of Irish-Jewish descent. When he was less than a year old, his family moved to New York City. He grew up in Douglaston, Queens and learned tennis at the nearby Port Washington Tennis Academy.

McEnroe took the tennis world by storm as an 18-year-old in 1977, when he made it through the qualifying tournament into the main draw at Wimbledon, where he lost in four sets to Jimmy Connors in the semifinals. It was the best performance by a qualifier at a Grand Slam tournament and a record performance for an amateur in the open era.

Shortly after, McEnroe entered Stanford University and won the NCAA singles and team titles in 1978. After that, he joined the professional tour.

McEnroe signed one of the first professional endorsement deals in tennis with Nike in 1978.

McEnroe won his first Grand Slam singles title in 1979 at the US Open. He defeated his good friend Vitas Gerulaitis in straight sets in the final to become the youngest winner of the championships since Pancho Gonzales, who was also 20, in 1948 (Pete Sampras eventually became the youngest US Open Champion at 19 years old). He won 10 singles and 17 doubles titles that year (for a total of 27 titles, which marked an open-era record).

Famous battles with Björn Borg (1980-81)

In 1980, McEnroe reached the men's singles final at Wimbledon for the first time, where he faced the legendary Swedish player Björn Borg, who was gunning for his fifth consecutive Wimbledon title. At the start of the final, McEnroe was booed by the crowd as he entered centre court following heated exchanges with officials during his semi-final victory over Jimmy Connors. But the final itself is remembered for all the right reasons—it was arguably the greatest Wimbledon final ever. In a titanic fourth-set tie-breaker that is often simply called "that tie-breaker", which lasted 20 minutes, McEnroe saved five match points from Borg and eventually won the tie-break 18-16. However in the end McEnroe could not break Borg in the fifth set, which the Swede won 8-6.

Revenge for McEnroe came quickly. The pair met again in the final of the US Open two months later, and this time it was McEnroe who emerged the victor in another outstanding five-set encounter.

Controversy dogged McEnroe from the start when he returned to Wimbledon in 1981. Following his second round match against Tom Gullikson, McEnroe was fined $1,500 and came close to being thrown out of the championships as a result of an infamous blow-up in which he called umpire Ted James "the pits of the world", and then swore at tournament referee Fred Hoyles. The phrase "you cannot be serious", which several years later would become the title of McEnroe's autobiography, was also made famous during the 1981 Wimbledon campaign as a retort McEnroe frequently made in response to umpires' calls during his matches. This behaviour was in sharp contrast to that of Borg, who was painted by the tabloid press as an unflappable "ice man".

But despite the controversy and merciless criticism from the British press (who nicknamed him "SuperBrat"), McEnroe again made the Wimbledon men's singles final against Borg. And this time he prevailed, beating Borg in four sets to end the Swede's run of 41 consecutive match victories at the All England Club.

But the controversy did not end there. In response to McEnroe's on-court outbursts during the championships the All England Club did not accord McEnroe honorary membership of the club, an honour normally given to first-time singles champions immediately after their victory. McEnroe responded by not attending the traditional champions dinner that evening. He told the press: "I wanted to spend (the evening) with my family and friends and the people who had supported me, not a bunch of stiffs who are 70-80 years old, telling you that you're acting like a jerk." The honour was eventually accorded to McEnroe after he won the championships again.

Borg and McEnroe had their final confrontation in the final of the 1981 US Open. McEnroe won in four sets, becoming the first male player since the 1920s to win three consecutive US Open singles titles. Borg retired very shortly after the 1981 US Open.

Continued success (1982-85)

McEnroe suffered a devestating loss to Jimmy Connors in the 1982 Wimbeldon Final. He had previous success against Connors on grass and had not lost a set going into the final that year. Connors intensity could not be matched as he won a fourth set tiebreak and the fifth set to take the final.

In 1983, McEnroe reached his fourth consecutive Wimbledon final and swept aside the unheralded New Zealander Chris Lewis in straight-sets. He also played at the Australian Open for the first time, making it to the semifinals before being defeated in four sets by Mats Wilander.

McEnroe blew away the competition in 1984, compiling an 82-3 record and winning a career-high 13 singles tournaments, including his third Wimbledon and fourth US Open titles. The closest man since to match McEnroe's 82-3 record was Roger Federer in 2005 (he was at 81-3 before losing his last match of the year to David Nalbandian). McEnroe also reached the final of the French Open that year, and seemed to be on the verge of beating Ivan Lendl when he won the first two sets. But this time his temperamental outbursts got the better of McEnroe, and the ice-cool Czech capitalized to win a dramatic five-setter. The loss ended a 39-match winning streak, and was the closest McEnroe would ever come to winning the French Open. McEnroe was, however, victorious in his fifth consecutive Wimbledon final, playing a virtually flawless game to defeat Connors in straight-sets in just 80 minutes, 6-1, 6-1, 6-2. He went on to beat Ivan Lendl in the subsequent US Open final by winning in straight sets.

In 1985, McEnroe reached what turned out to be his last Grand Slam singles final at the US Open. This time he was beaten in straight sets by Lendl.

Taking time out

By 1986, the pressures of playing at the top had become too much for McEnroe to handle and he took a six-month break from the tour. It was during this sabbatical that he married the actress Tatum O'Neal with whom he would eventually have 3 children (Kevin, Sean, and Emily). When he returned to the tour later in the year, he won three titles. However McEnroe never seemed to be able to recapture his very best form again. In 1987, McEnroe failed to win a title for the first time since turning pro. He took a seven-month break from the game following the US Open, where he was suspended for two months and fined $17,500 for misconduct and verbal abuse.

World No. 1 ranking

McEnroe first reached the World No. 1 singles ranking in March 1980. He would be ranked World No. 1 on no less than 14 separate occasions between 1980 and 1985, and finished the year ranked World No. 1 for four straight years from 1981-84. He spent a total of 170 weeks as World No. 1 singles player.

Success in doubles

McEnroe was also ranked the World No. 1 in doubles for a record 257 weeks. He formed a powerful partnership with Peter Fleming, with whom he won 57 men's doubles titles including four at Wimbledon and three at the US Open. (Fleming was always very modest about his own contribution to the partnership—he once said "the best doubles partnership in the world is John McEnroe and anybody else.") McEnroe won a fourth US Open men's doubles title in 1989 with Mark Woodforde, and a fifth Wimbledon men's doubles title in 1992 with Michael Stich. He also won the 1977 French Open mixed doubles title with childhood pal Mary Carillo.

Representing his country

More than any other player in his era, McEnroe was responsible for reviving American interest in the Davis Cup, which had been shunned by Connors and other leading US players. In 1978, he won two singles rubbers in the final as the US captured the cup for the first time since 1972, beating Great Britain in the final. McEnroe continued to be a mainstay of US Davis Cup teams for the next 14 years, and was part of US winning teams again in 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1992. He set numerous US Davis Cup records, including years played (12), ties (30), singles wins (41), and total wins in singles and doubles (59). He played both singles and doubles in 13 series, and he and Peter Fleming won 14 of 15 Davis Cup doubles matches together.

An epic performance was McEnroe's 6-hour, 32-minute five-set victory over Mats Wilander in the US's 3-2 quarter-final win over Sweden in 1982. He won the match 9-7, 6-2, 15-17, 3-6, 8-6.

McEnroe also helped the US win the World Team Cup in 1984 and 1985.

Final years on the tour

He recovered his form somewhat by the end of the decade. In 1989, he made the finals of the Canadian Open, only to lose to Lendl.

Controversy was never far away from McEnroe, even in the later years of his career. In his fourth round match against Mikael Pernfors at the 1990 Australian Open, McEnroe was disqualified for swearing at the umpire, supervisor and referee. He was warned by the umpire for intimidating a lineswoman and then docked a point for smashing a racket. McEnroe was apparently unaware that a new Code of Conduct which had just been introduced to the game meant that a third code violation would not lead to the deduction of a game, but instead would result in immediate disqualification. So when McEnroe unleashed a volley of abuse at umpire Gerry Armstrong, he defaulted then and there and was thrown out of the championships.

A brighter spot that year was when McEnroe reached the semi-finals of the US Open but he was knocked out by rising star Pete Sampras, who went on to win the championship.

McEnroe retired from the professional tour in 1992. His last year on the tour was filled with some notable highlights. He made a stirring run to the semi-finals at Wimbledon, where he lost to that year's eventual champion Andre Agassi. He teamed up with Michael Stich to win his fifth Wimbledon men’s doubles title in a record-length five-hour, one-minute final which the pair won 5-7, 7-6, 3-6, 7-6, 19-17. And he teamed up with Pete Sampras to win the doubles rubber in the Davis Cup final, where the US defeated Switzerland 3-1.

After retirement

Although McEnroe officially retired from the pro tour, he still plays tennis competitively in the Delta Tour of Champions, where he finished the year 2005 ranked #2. Many players and tennis experts agree that McEnroe's level of play is still high enough for him to compete on the professional level. In charity events and World Team Tennis he has beaten many single players, including Mardy Fish and Mark Philippoussis. He defeated Andy Roddick in a double's charity match, easily volleying back Roddick's powerful shots.

McEnroe announced officially his return to the ATP Pro Tour in 2006. In his return tournament he teamed up with Jonas Björkman, Sweden, to win the doubles title at the SAP Open in San Jose, his first since winning the Paris Indoors in November 1992 with brother Patrick.^* At 47 years and three days of age, he was the oldest player to win an ATP title, either singles or doubles, in thirty years. The win meant that John McEnroe had won doubles titles in four different decades and was tied with Tom Okker for the second highest number (78) of doubles titles in history.

Career statistics

McEnroe won a total of 156 top-level titles (a record for a male professional) during his career – 77 in singles, 78 men's doubles, and one mixed doubles. His career singles match record was 849-184. He won seven Grand Slam singles titles, and also captured the season-ending Masters championships three times in 1978, 1983 and 1984. In terms of his great rivalries, he had the edge on Connors (31-20), was even with Borg (7-7), but did not get the better of Lendl (15-21) who won nine of their ten encounters after 1985.

Quotes

When asked to name the top 5 greatest tennis players of all time, Mats Wilander put Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Andre Agassi and Björn Borg in the top 4 with Jimmy Connors, Ivan Lendl, and McEnroe tying at 5th. On John: “He had the maximum potential among everyone I’m talking about, but couldn’t fulfill it. I’m sure he must have kicked himself quite a few times for not developing into the greatest of all time. He believed in improving by playing matches, that’s why he played a lot of doubles along with singles, but he ignored practice. Had he worked on his game and fitness like normal top pros, sky was the limit.”

Career Titles

McEnroe won 77 singles titles in his career:

1978 – Masters, Hartford, London, San Francisco, Stockholm, Wembley
1979 – US Open, Dallas WCT, London/Queen's Club, Milan, New Orleans, San Francisco, San Jose, South Orange, Stockholm, Wembley
1980 – US Open, Brisbane, London/Queen's Club, Memphis, Milan, Richmond WCT, Sydney Indoor, Wembley
1981 – Wimbledon, US Open, Cincinnati, Dallas WCT, Frankfurt, London/Queen's Club, Los Angeles, Milan, Pepsi Grand Slam, Sydney Indoor
1982 – Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney Indoor, Tokyo Indoor, Wembley
1983 – Wimbledon, Masters, Dallas WCT, Forest Hills WCT, Philadelphia, Sydney Indoor, Wembley
1984 – Wimbledon, US Open, Masters, Montreal/Toronto, Brussels, Dallas WCT, Forest Hills WCT, London/Queen's Club, Madrid, Philadelphia, Richmond WCT, San Francisco, Stockholm
1985 – Montreal/Toronto, Atlanta, Chicago, Houston, Milan, Philadelphia, Stockholm, Stratton Mountain
1986 – Los Angeles, San Francisco, Scottsdale
1988 – Detroit, Tokyo Outdoor
1989 – Dallas WCT, Indianapolis, Lyon
1990 – Basel
1991 – Chicago

He also reached 31 finals:

1978 – Basel, London/Queen's Club
1979 – Montreal/Toronto, Los Angeles, Rotterdam
1980 – Wimbledon, Dallas WCT, Forest Hills WCT, Philadelphia, South Orange, Stockholm
1981 – Wembley
1982 – Wimbledon, Masters, Dallas WCT, London/Queen's Club, Memphis
1983 – Montreal/Toronto, London/Queen's Club, San Francisco
1984 – French Open
1985 – Forest Hills, US Open;
1987 – Brussels, Dallas WCT, Philadelphia, Rotterdam
1988 – Indianapolis
1989 – Montreal/Toronto, Toulouse
1991 – Basel

In doubles, McEnroe won 70 titles:

1978 – Basel, Bologna, Cologne, London, San Francisco, South Orange, Hartford
1979 – Wimbledon, US Open, Montreal/Toronto, Bologna, Milan, New Orleans, Rotterdam, San Francisco, San Jose, South Orange, Stockholm, Wembley, World Doubles WCT, Richmond WCT, Indianapolis
1980 – Forest Hills WCT, Maui, Milan, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Sydney Indoor, Wembley, Memphis, Brisbane, South Orange;
1981 – Wimbledon, US Open, Cincinnati, Forest Hills WCT, Las Vegas, San Francisco, Sydney Indoor
1982 – Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Wembley, London/Queen's Club, Sydney Indoor
1983 – Wimbledon, US Open, Los Angeles, Wembley
1984 – Wimbledon, Masters, Montreal/Toronto, Madrid, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Richmond WCT
1985 – Dallas, Houston
1986 – Pairs Indoor, San Francisco, Stratton Mountain, Wembley
1988 – Los Angeles, San Francisco
1989 – US Open, Milan, Wembley
1992 – Wimbledon, Pairs Indoor, Brussels
2006 – San Jose

And was a finalist 22 times:

1978 – Wimbledon, Washington Indoor, Maui
1979 – Philadelphia
1980 – US Open, Monte Carlo
1981 – Montreal/Toronto, Wembley, Frankfurt, Milan, Los Angeles
1982 – Wimbledon, Montreal/Toronto, Memphis, Tokyo Indoor
1983 – Philadelphia, Sydney Indoor
1986 – Los Angeles
1989 – Lyon
1991 – Basel
1992 – Montreal/Toronto, Rosmalen

After retirement from the tour

McEnroe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1999.

He took on the role of US Davis Cup captain in September 1999, but was not especially successful. His team barely escaped defeat in their first two outings in 2000, beating Zimbabwe and the Czech Republic in tight 3-2 encounters. They were then defeated 5-0 by Spain in the semi-finals. McEnroe resigned in November 2000 after 14 months as captain, citing frustration with the Davis Cup schedule and format as two of his primary reasons. His brother Patrick McEnroe took over the job.

McEnroe now fills his time by playing on the senior tour and being a TV commentator at major tournaments. He is always the star turn for the BBC during their extensive coverage at Wimbledon and, after initial spells of cynicism at the UK's great hope Tim Henman's chances of winning the men's title, he has become one of the British player's biggest fans.

In July 2004, McEnroe began a CNBC talk show, simply entitled McEnroe. However the show was not successful, twice earning a 0.0 Nielsen rating, and was cancelled within five months. He also hosted quiz show The Chair in both the UK and the USA but this was unsuccessful as well.

McEnroe played himself in the 2004 movie Wimbledon.

McEnroe divorced Tatum O'Neal in 1992 and married musician Patty Smyth in 1997. He has six children (three with O'Neal, two with Smyth, and one from Smyth's previous marriage to rock star Richard Hell). He has full custody of his children from his first marriage.

Never at a loss for words, in 2002 he wrote a book entitled "You Cannot Be Serious", an autobiographical account of his life during and after tennis. This was published as "Serious: The Autobiography" in the UK and Ireland. In it he shared many interesting stories about the realities of the tennis tour, the role of corporations in pro tennis, and his off-court, drug-induced escapades. He is active in philanthropy and tennis development. McEnroe currently owns an art gallery in Manhattan.

Grand Slam singles finals

Wins (7)

Vitas Gerulaitis Björn Borg Björn Borg Björn Borg Chris Lewis Jimmy Connors Ivan Lendl

'''Year	'''Championship	'''Opponent in Final	'''Score in Final
1979	U.S. Open	7-5, 6-3, 6-3
1980	U.S. Open (2)	7-6, 6-1, 6-7, 6-7, 6-4
1981	Wimbledon	4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4
1981	U.S. Open (3)	4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3
1983	Wimbledon (2)	6-2, 6-2, 6-2
1984	Wimbledon (3)	6-1, 6-1, 6-2
1984	U.S. Open (4)	6-3, 6-4, 6-1

Runner-ups (4)

Björn Borg Jimmy Connors Ivan Lendl Ivan Lendl

'''Year	'''Championship	'''Opponent in Final	'''Score in Final
1980	Wimbledon	1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7, 8-6
1982	Wimbledon	3-6, 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4
1984	French Open	3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5
1985	U.S. Open	7-6, 6-3, 6-4

Pop-culture appearances

McEnroe's fiery temper has got him featured in fields other than tennis on more than one occasion. In 1982, on the tail of his final victory against Borg, British impressionist Roger Kitter made a record called Chalk Dust: The Umpire Strikes Back in which he played a parody of McEnroe losing his temper with an umpire during a match. The record was made under the nomenclature "The Brat" and reached the UK Top 20; by this time the British tabloids had dubbed him "superbrat". He is also sampled and referenced on Dionysos' album Western Sous La Neige which features multiple tracks that talk about writing in the blood of bad referees.

In the House of Pain's 1992 hit single "Jump Around," lead rapper Everlast mentions John McEnroe in the second verse: I'll serve your ass like John McEnroe, if your girl steps up I'm smackin' the ho.

In the 2003 Halloween cartoon for Homestar Runner, 3 Times Halloween Funjob, Homestar dresses as John McEnroe. An Easter egg at the end of the cartoon shows a puppet version of Homestar doing an impresson of one of McEnroe's infamous displays of bad temper.

McEnroe has also been given roles in TV and film where he playfully acknowledges his well-known belligerence such as in his appearance in a 2005 car commercial for the SEAT Altea where he angrily shouts his trademark "Clearly inside the line" line at an officer who has ticketed him for parking incorrectly. He also portrays himself in the 2002 film Mr. Deeds where he lauds the title character for getting angry and assaulting an antagonist, and has a scene in the film Anger Management starring Jack Nicholson and Adam Sandler.

External links

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