John McEnroe

John McEnroe is an interesting tennis player and possibly one of the most memorable players in the 70’s and 80’s. Some remember his battles with Bjorn Borg, while others think of an ill tempered player that was fun to watch. He may have had a bad temper but he was an incredibly talented player. He was able to make it to the number one spot in the world rankings, win seven Grand Slam singles titles (four at the U.S. open and the other three at Wimbledon), take nine grand slam doubles titles, and then grab one Grand Slam doubles mixed title with Mary Carillo. McEnroe has a total of 77 singles titles, third most behind Jimmy Connors (109) and Ivan Lendl (94). His most recent accomplishment came in 2006 after a twelve-year absence; McEnroe returned to a doubles competition and became the oldest male player to win a top-level title in thirty years.
McEnroe was born on February 16, 1959 on a United States Army base in Wiesbaden, Germany. Shortly after his birth, his family moved to New York City and he began to learn tennis at Port Washington Tennis Academy in Long Island, NY. In 1977, John was just eighteen when he made it through the qualifying tournament into the main draw at Wimbledon but lost in four sets to Jimmy Connors. A year later, he entered into Stanford University and won the NCAA singles and team titles and then moved on into the professional tour. The first Grand Slam title for McEnroe came in 1979 at the U.S. Open at the age of 20; he was the youngest ever to win since Pancho Gonzalez in the 1948 whom was also 20 years old. This was the same year he was nicknamed “super brat” by the British Tabloids. The Sun, a British tabloid as well, wrote “He is the most vain, ill-tempered, petulant loudmouth that the game of tennis has ever know.”
His 1980 Wimbledon final against Bjorn Borg is one of the most memorable matches. The four-time champion Bjorn Borg was up two sets to one and up 5-4 in the fourth set. Soon McEnroe pumped it up to 6-6 and the fourth-set tie breaker lasted 20 minutes until McEnroe saved five match points and won it 18-16. However, Borg came through in the fifth set and won 8-6. The fourth set of this match is often referred to as “that tie breaker” and the match was rewarded the best Wimbledon final by ESPN in the show “Who’s number one?” A year later, Borg’s streak of five consecutive championships was ended by McEnroe in the Wimbledon and Borg’s 41 straight winning matches were halted. Before McEnroe took revenge on Bjorn Borg, John was fined $1,500 and nearly thrown out of the championships after calling the umpire Ted James the “pits of the world.” This was when the John said the famous phrase “You cannot be serious!?” when he yelled at the umpire, this quote is one of McEnroe’s memorable quotes and it became the title of McEnroe’s autobiography years later.
McEnroe became the first male player since the 1920’s to win three consecutive U.S. Opens after defeating Bjorn Borg in the 1980 and 1981 U.S. Opens. McEnroe ruled the number one spot in the world from 1981 to 1984 in singles for a total of 170 weeks. Not only in singles, he also claimed the number one spot for doubles for a record of 257 weeks with doubles partner Peter Fleming. Even though the rankings said he was the number one player in the world, very few endorsement deals were offered because companies just did not want John McEnroe to be identified with their product due to his temper and “bad sport” attitudes. His best year was probably 1984 where he managed to hold a win-loss record of 82-3, winning 13 tournaments, a Wimbledon, and a U.S. Open. One of the losses was to Ivan Lendl in the French Open which ended his 39-match win streak. McEnroe never won the French Open and this was the closest he ever got to winning it.
McEnroe became tired and took a break in 1986. He decided to cool down and take it slow, he ended up marrying actress Tatum O’Neal and they had three children. McEnroe took a seven month break after being suspend and fined $17,500 for misconduct and verbal abuse in 1987 and ended up not winning a single title for the first time since turning pro. McEnroe could never grasp the tennis skill he once had again and retired from the professional tour at the end of 1992 and ended his singles career ranked 20th. Also in 1992, his wife, Tatum O’Neal, and John had gotten a divorce and McEnroe went on to marry musician Patty Smyth in 1997, he had another two kids with her.  
McEnroe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999 and became a tennis commentator. He also has an autobiography out entitled “You Cannot Be Serious,” written in 2002 and it is about his life before, during, and after tennis. John also began a small acting career, appearing as himself in Mr. Deeds, Wimbledon, and Anger Management. Adam Sandler was executive producer for the movies Mr. Deeds and Anger Management and McEnroe played himself as an ill mannered person in both. He began a couple TV shows that both tanked within a few months and he can now be seen most recently in an American Express commercial where John apologizes to the umpire for yelling at him in the 1985 U.S. Open when Lendl served the ball and the umpire called it in when John disagreed with him. John will play in the occasional over 35 tennis tournaments today as well. Still today, John McEnroe is thought of as one of the greatest tennis players, but more so a player that would make an outburst if he disagreed with a call from an umpire. I chose John McEnroe because his temper on the tennis court made him unique.