John Patrick McEnroe, Jr.
(born February 16, 1959) is an American former World No. 1 professional tennis player. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles—three at Wimbledon and four at the US Open—nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. He is remembered for his shot-making artistry and superb volleying; for his famous rivalries with Björn Borg, Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl; for his confrontational on-court behavior, which frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities; and for the catchphrase "You can not
be serious!" directed toward an umpire during a match at Wimbledon in 1981. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999. McEnroe is also the older brother of Patrick McEnroe, who is also a former professional tennis player and the present Captain of the United States Davis Cup team, a position that John served in previously. They also both are now often commentators for Grand Slam television coverage in the United States.
After a 12-year absence from the professional tour, McEnroe returned to top-level doubles competition in 2006 and became the oldest male player to win an ATP title in 30 years when he won the SAP Open at San Jose.
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JOHN MCENROE TICKETS
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Early life
McEnroe was born at the U.S. military base in
Wiesbaden,
West Germany, to Kay (born Katherine Tresham) and John Patrick McEnroe, Sr.
[1] He has two younger brothers: Mark (born 1964), and former professional tennis player
Patrick (born 1966). His father, who is of
Irish descent, was at the time stationed with the
United States Air Force.
In 1960, the family moved to the New York City area, where McEnroe's father worked daytime as an advertising agent while attending law school by night. He attended
Trinity School (New York City) and graduated in 1977. McEnroe grew up in
Douglaston,
Queens and started playing tennis when he was eight years old at the nearby Douglaston Club with his brothers. When he was nine, his parents enrolled him in the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association, and he would start playing regional tournaments. He soon began competing in national juniors tournaments, and at twelve—when he was ranked seven in his age group—he joined the
Port Washington Tennis Academy,
Long Island, NY.
[2]
Career
As an 18 year old in 1977, McEnroe made it through the qualifying tournament and into the main draw at
Wimbledon, where he lost in the semifinals to
Jimmy Connors in four sets. It was the best performance by a qualifier at a
Grand Slam tournament and a record performance
[clarification needed] by an amateur in the
open era. Shortly after, McEnroe entered
Stanford University and won the
National Collegiate Athletic Association 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
Sergio Tacchini in 1978. He won his first Grand Slam singles title at the
1979 US Open. He defeated his good friend
Vitas Gerulaitis in straight sets in the final to become the youngest male winner of the singles title at the
US Open since
Pancho Gonzales, who was also 20 in 1948.
[3] McEnroe won 10 singles and 17 doubles titles that year (for a total of 27 titles, which marked an open era record).
In 1980, McEnroe reached the men's singles final at
Wimbledon for the first time, where he faced
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 semifinal victory over
Jimmy Connors. In a fourth-set tiebreaker that lasted 20 minutes, often simply called "that tie-breaker", McEnroe saved five match points and eventually won 18-16. McEnroe, however, could not break Borg's serve in the fifth set, which the Swede won 8–6. This match was called the best Wimbledon final by
ESPN's countdown show "Who's Number One?" and "one of the three or four greatest sporting events in history" by ESPN personality
Mike Greenberg.
thumb
party in
New York City.
McEnroe exacted revenge two months later, beating Borg in the five-set final of the
1980 US Open.
Controversy dogged McEnroe when he returned to
Wimbledon in 1981. Following his first-round match against
Tom Gullikson, McEnroe was fined U.S. $1,500 and came close to being thrown out of the championships after he called umpire
Ted James "the pits of the world" and then swore at tournament referee
Fred Hoyles. He also made famous the phrase "you cannot be serious", which years later would become the title of
McEnroe's autobiography, by shouting it after several umpires' calls during his matches. This behavior was in sharp contrast to that of Borg, who was painted by the tabloid press as an unflappable "ice man." Nevertheless, in matches played between the two, McEnroe never lost his temper.
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, McEnroe prevailed in four sets to end the Swede's run of 41 consecutive match victories at the
All England Club. TV commentator
Bud Collins quipped after the
July 4 battle, paraphrasing "
Yankee Doodle", "Stick a feather in his cap and call it 'McEnroe-ni'!".
[4]
The controversy, however, did not end there. In response to McEnroe's on-court outbursts during the championships, the All England Club did not accord McEnroe honorary club membership, an honor normally given to singles champions after their first 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 honor was eventually accorded to McEnroe after he won the championship 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 never played another
Grand Slam event.
McEnroe lost to
Jimmy Connors in the 1982
Wimbledon final. McEnroe lost only one set (to
Johan Kriek) going into the final; however, Connors won the fourth set tiebreak and the fifth set to win the championship.
In 1983, McEnroe reached his fourth consecutive Wimbledon final, dropping only one set throughout the whole championship (to
Florin Segarceanu), 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.
At the 1984
French Open, McEnroe lost a close final match to
Ivan Lendl. McEnroe was on the verge of beating Lendl after winning the first two sets. But Lendl's decision to use more topspin lobs and cross-court backhand passing shots, as well as fatigue and temperamental outbursts got the better of McEnroe, allowing Lendl to win a dramatic five-setter. The loss ended a 39-match winning streak and was the closest McEnroe ever came to winning the French Open.
In the 1984 Wimbledon final, McEnroe played a virtually flawless match to defeat Connors in just 80 minutes, 6–1, 6–1, 6–2. That was McEnroe's third and final Wimbledon singles title. Again McEnroe had won Wimbledon whilst dropping just one set throughout the entire tournament, this time to
Paul McNamee.
McEnroe won his fourth
US Open title in 1984 by defeating Lendl in straight sets in the final, after defeating Connors in a five-set semifinal.
1984 was arguably McEnroe's best year on the tennis tour, as he compiled an 82-3 record and won a career-high 13 singles tournaments, including Wimbledon and the US Open. He also was on the U.S.' winning
World Team Cup and runner-up
Davis Cup teams. The only male who has come close to matching McEnroe's 1984 win-loss record since then was
Roger Federer in 2005. Federer was 81-3 before losing his last match of the year to
David Nalbandian.
McEnroe's 1984 season did not end without controversy. While playing and winning the tournament in Stockholm, McEnroe had an on-court outburst that became notorious in sports highlight reels. After questioning a call made by the chair umpire, McEnroe demanded, "Answer my question, jerk!" McEnroe then slammed his racquet into a juice cart beside the court.
In 1985, McEnroe reached his last Grand Slam singles final at the US Open. This time, he was beaten in straight sets by Lendl.
The word "Filthy" was actually first used as a positive to describe the incredible nature of McEnroe's one-handed backhand.
Relationship with Nike
Nike co-founder
Phil Knight discovered McEnroe in 1978 and tapped him for the "Rebel With a Cause" ad campaign.
[5]
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 on August 1, 1986. They would eventually have three children: Kevin (born May 23, 1986), Sean (born September 23, 1987), and Emily (born May 10, 1991), and divorce in 1994. When he returned to the tour later in 1986, he won three titles. But 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 US$17,500 for misconduct and verbal abuse.
Association of Tennis Professionals World No. 1 ranking
According to the
Association of Tennis Professionals, McEnroe became the top-ranked singles player in the world on March 3, 1980.
[6] He was the top ranked player on 14 separate occasions between 1980 and 1985 and finished the year ranked World No. 1 four straight years from 1981 through 1984. He spent a total of 170 weeks at the top of the rankings.
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.
Davis Cup
More than any other player in his era, McEnroe was responsible for reviving U.S. interest in the
Davis Cup, which had been shunned by
Jimmy Connors and other leading U.S. players, and had not seen a top U.S. player regularly compete since
Arthur Ashe (Connors' refusal to play Davis Cup in lieu of lucrative exhibitions became a source of enmity between him and Ashe). In 1978, McEnroe won two singles rubbers in the final as the U.S. captured the cup for the first time since 1972, beating the United Kingdom in the final. McEnroe continued to be a mainstay of U.S. Davis Cup teams for the next 14 years and was part of U.S. winning teams in 1979, 1981, 1982, and 1992. He set numerous U.S. 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, 22-minute victory over
Mats Wilander in the deciding rubber of the 3–2 quarterfinal win over Sweden in 1982, played in St. Louis, Missouri. McEnroe won the match, at the time the longest in Davis Cup history, 9–7, 6–2, 15-17, 3–6, 8–6.
McEnroe nearly broke that record in a 6-hour, 20-minute loss to
Boris Becker five years later. Becker won their match, the second rubber in a 3–2 loss to West Germany in World Group Relegation play, 4–6, 15-13, 8-10, 6–2, 6–2.
McEnroe also helped the U.S. win the
World Team Cup in 1984 and 1985.
Final years on the tour
McEnroe struggled to regain his form after his 1986 sabbatical. He lost, for example, three times in
Grand Slam tournaments to
Ivan Lendl, losing straight-set quarterfinals at both the 1987
US Open and the 1989
Australian Open and a long four-set match, played over two days, in the fourth round of the 1988
French Open.
Nevertheless McEnroe had multiple notable victories in the final years of his career.
In the 1988 French Open, McEnroe crushed 16-year old
Michael Chang 6-0, 6-3, 6-1 in the third round; Chang would go on to win the title the very next year.
In 1989, McEnroe won a record fifth title at the
World Championship Tennis Finals (the championship tournament of the WCT tour, which was being staged for the last time), defeating top-ranked Lendl in the semifinals. At
Wimbledon, he defeated
Mats Wilander in a four-set quarterfinal before losing to
Stefan Edberg in a semifinal. He won the RCA Championships in
Indianapolis and reached the final of the
Canadian Open, where he lost to Lendl. He also won both of his singles rubbers in the quarterfinal
Davis Cup tie with Sweden.
Controversy was never far from McEnroe, however. 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 been introduced just before the tournament, 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 was defaulted.
Later that year, McEnroe reached the semifinals of the
US Open, losing to the eventual champion,
Pete Sampras in four sets. He also won the
Davidoff Swiss Indoors in
Basel, defeating
Goran Ivaniševic in a five-set final. The last time McEnroe was ranked in the world top ten was on October 22, 1990, when he was ranked 9th. His end-of-year singles ranking was 13th.
thumb.
In 1991, McEnroe won the last edition of the Volvo Tennis-Chicago tournament by defeating his brother
Patrick in the final. He won both of his singles rubbers in the quarterfinal Davis Cup tie with Spain. And he reached the fourth round at Wimbledon (losing to Edberg) and the third round at the US Open (losing to
Michael Chang in a five-set night match). His end-of-year singles ranking was 28th in the world.
In 1992, McEnroe defeated third-ranked and defending champion
Boris Becker in the third round of the Australian Open 6–4, 6–3, 7–5 before a sell-out crowd. In the fourth round, McEnroe needed 4 hours 42 minutes to defeat ninth ranked
Emilio Sánchez 8–6 in the fifth set. He lost to
Wayne Ferreira in the quarterfinals. At
Wimbledon, McEnroe reached the semifinals where he lost in straight sets to the eventual champion
Andre Agassi. McEnroe teamed with
Michael Stich to win his fifth Wimbledon men's doubles title in a record-length 5 hour 1 minute final, which the pair won 5–7, 7–6, 3–6, 7–6, 19-17. At the end of the year, he teamed with Sampras to win the doubles rubber in the Davis Cup final, where the U.S. defeated Switzerland 3–1.
McEnroe retired from the professional tour at the end of 1992. He ended his singles career ranked 20th in the world.
After retirement from the tour
McEnroe separated from
Tatum O'Neal in 1992 and they divorced in 1994. While he was originally awarded full custody of their children, they now have joint custody. He married musician
Patty Smyth in April 1997, with whom he has two daughters, Anna () and Ava (), and one stepdaughter, Ruby () (from Smyth's previous marriage to rock star
Richard Hell).
McEnroe was inducted into the
International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999. He now works as a
sports commentator in tennis and has regularly appeared in US national telecasts of
Grand Slam tennis matches on such networks as
CBS,
NBC,
USA, and
ESPN, as has his brother
Patrick McEnroe. He also commentates on Wimbledon for the
BBC in the UK.
McEnroe became the U.S.
Davis Cup captain in September 1999. 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 semifinals. 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.
In July 2004, McEnroe began a
CNBC talk show entitled
McEnroe
. The show, however, was unsuccessful, twice earning a 0.0
Nielsen rating, and was cancelled within five months. He also hosted
The Chair
quiz show in both the U.K. and the U.S., but this venture also was unsuccessful. In 2002, McEnroe played himself in
Mr. Deeds
and again in 2008 in
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
. McEnroe played himself in the 2004 movie
Wimbledon
.
McEnroe is active in philanthropy and tennis development. He owns an
art gallery in
Manhattan.
McEnroe plays on two senior tours, the
Merrill Lynch Tour of Champions and the
Outback Champions Series. He is a TV commentator at major tournaments. 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 top players, including
Mardy Fish and
Mark Philippoussis.
In 2007, McEnroe appeared on the NBC comedy
30 Rock
as the host of a game show called "Gold Case" in which he uttered his famous line "You cannot be serious!" when a taping went awry. McEnroe also appeared on the HBO comedy
Curb Your Enthusiasm
.
Return to the tour
McEnroe returned to the
ATP Tour in 2006 to play two doubles tournaments.
In his first tournament, he teamed with
Jonas Björkman to win the title at the
SAP Open in San Jose.
[7] This was McEnroe's first title since capturing the
Paris Indoor doubles title in November 1992 with his brother Patrick. The win meant that McEnroe had won doubles titles in four different decades and is tied with
Tom Okker for the second highest number (70) of doubles titles in history (trailing
Todd Woodbridge).
In his second tournament, McEnroe and Björkman lost in the quarter-finals of the tournament in Stockholm.
Career statistics
Grand Slam finals (24)
Singles: 11 (7-4)
;Wins (7)
'''Year
| '''Championship
| '''Surface
| '''Opponent in final
| '''Score in final
|
1979
| US Open
| Hard
| Vitas Gerulaitis
| 7–5, 6–3, 6–3
|
1980
| US Open (2)
| Hard
| Björn Borg
| 7–6(4), 6–1, 6–7(5), 5–7, 6–4
|
1981
| Wimbledon
| Grass
| Björn Borg
| 4–6, 7–6(1), 7–6(4), 6–4
|
1981
| US Open (3)
| Hard
| Björn Borg
| 4–6, 6–2, 6–4, 6–3
|
1983
| Wimbledon (2)
| Grass
| Chris Lewis
| 6–2, 6–2, 6–2
|
1984
| Wimbledon (3)
| Grass
| Jimmy Connors
| 6–1, 6–1, 6–2
|
1984
| US Open (4)
| Hard
| Ivan Lendl
| 6–3, 6–4, 6–1
|
;Runner-ups (4)
'''Year
| '''Championship
| '''Surface
| '''Opponent in final
| '''Score in final
|
1980
| Wimbledon
| Grass
| Björn Borg
| 1–6, 7–5, 6–3, 6–7(16), 8–6
|
1982
| Wimbledon (2)
| Grass
| Jimmy Connors
| 3–6, 6–3, 6–7(2), 7–6(5), 6–4
|
1984
| French Open
| Clay
| Ivan Lendl
| 3–6, 2–6, 6–4, 7–5, 7–5
|
1985
| US Open
| Hard
| Ivan Lendl
| 7–6(1), 6–3, 6–4
|
Grand Slam singles tournament timeline
Tournament
| 1977
| 1978
| 1979
| 1980
| 1981
| 1982
| 1983
| 1984
| 1985
| 1986
| 1987
| 1988
| 1989
| 1990
| 1991
| 1992
| Career SR
| Career Win-Loss
|
Australian Open
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| A
| SF
| A
| QF
| NH
| A
| A
| QF
| 4R
| A
| QF
| 0 / 5
| 18-5
|
French Open
| 2R
| A
| A
| 3R
| QF
| A
| QF
| F
| SF
| A
| 1R
| 4R
| A
| A
| 1R
| 1R
| 0 / 10
| 25-10
|
Wimbledon
| SF
| 1R
| 4R
| F
| W
| F
| W
| W
| QF
| A
| A
| 2R
| SF
| 1R
| 4R
| SF
| 3 / 14
| 59-11
|
US Open
| 4R
| SF
| W
| W
| W
| SF
| 4R
| W
| F
| 1R
| QF
| 2R
| 2R
| SF
| 3R
| 4R
| 4 / 16
| 66-12
|
Year End Ranking
| 21
| 4
| 3
| 2
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 1
| 2
| 14
| 10
| 11
| 4
| 13
| 28
| 20
| N/A
| N/A
|
Annual Win-Loss
| 9–3
| 5–2
| 9–1
| 15-2
| 18-1
| 11-2
| 18-3
| 20-1
| 18-4
| 0–1
| 4–2
| 5–3
| 10-3
| 8–3
| 5–3
| 12-4
| N/A
| 168-38
|
Key:
- W = winner
- F, SF, QF, 3R = lost in final, semifinal, quarter final, 3rd round
- NH = tournament not held.
- A = did not participate in the tournament.
- SR = the ratio of the number of singles tournaments won to the number of those tournaments played.
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 imitated and referenced on Dionysos' album Western sous la neige
which features multiple tracks that talk about writing in the blood of bad referees.
- His random bursts of rage were parodied in the satirical British programme 'Spitting Image', where he and wife Tatum frequently screamed and threw things at each other. He was also lampooned in the Australian The Paul Hogan Show
, in which Paul Hogan played "John MacEnhoax" who used a handshake to fling his opponent, destroying a tennis court.
- At the height of his career, NBC-TV's tennis coverage included a piece with clips of his many on-court tantrums, underscored by the Men at Work hit song, Be Good Johnny
.
- 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, most of which was cut—leaving only a short shot of him sleeping on the floor of the psychiatrist's office. The full scene is in the DVD special features.
- In the Not the Nine O'Clock News
, McEnroe is parodied by Griff Rhys Jones with considerable emphasis being placed on his lack of patience, his temper tantrums and his inability to understand that he does anything wrong or any decision that is not in his favour. He is shown arguing with his parents at breakfast over the consistency of his boiled egg, and whether or not he slurped his orange juice.
- McEnroe was partially the inspiration for the character of Freddie Trumper - the volatile U.S. chess champion - in the musical Chess
by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson, and Bjorn Ulveaus.
- Actor Tom Hulce studied McEnroe's mood swings for his portrayal of Mozart's unpredictable genius in Amadeus
. Also, Ian McKellen once took some lessons from his behaviour on court for his interpretation of the megalomaniacal Coriolanus. [8]
- McEnroe appeared in the episodes "The Head and the Hair" and "Gavin Volure" of 30 Rock.
- FBI agent Larry Connors uses the alias "John McEnroe" in episode 27 of the Japanese-Anime series "Death Note".
Commercials
- McEnroe also has appeared in Nike's 2006 Pretty
tennis commercial with his brother Patrick and tennis star Maria Sharapova. He appeared in another commercial where he taught Pete Sampras how to throw temper tantrums on the court.
- He appeared on a British advertisement for Tesco, along with Björn Borg, his famous rival, where they compete to collect supermarket items, and Borg eventually finishes with a plate, a play on the trophy of Wimbledon.
- McEnroe appeared in a Kellogg's cereal commercial in 2008.
- McEnroe appeared in a National Car Rental commercial during Fall of 2008.
- McEnroe appeared in a EA Sports commercial for Grand Slam Tennis during 2009.
Television and film
- McEnroe appeared on the December 16, 2006, episode of the UK talk show Parkinson
.
- McEnroe, alongside his brother Patrick, co-hosted the WFAN Morning Show (formerly Imus in the Morning
) on May 8 and 9, 2007.
- On May 10, 2007, McEnroe appeared as a murder suspect on an episode of the American CBS television show CSI: NY
, uttering a variation of his famous "You cannot be serious!" line. [9]
- McEnroe appeared as himself in Curb your Enthusiasm
Season 6 Episode 5 in which Larry David adopts the role of his limo driver for the day.
- McEnroe appears as himself in You Don't Mess with the Zohan
- McEnroe appears as himself in Mr Deeds
.
- McEnroe appears as himself in Anger Management
.
- McEnroe appeared as himself in the "30 Rock" episode "Gavin Volure," in which he is described as a man excelling in "art collecting and yelling."
- McEnroe played a caller to Frasier's radio show in an episode of the sitcom Frasier
.
- McEnroe presented a primetime BBC show in 2002 called, The Chair, in which he asked contestants questions and measured their heart rate as they were asked. The show lasted one series.
- McEnroe played himself in the 1979 Paramount motion picture Players
which starred Ali McGraw and Dean-Paul Martin.
- Homestar Runner dressed up like him for halloween.
In music
- McEnroe is mentioned in the House of Pain song Jump Around.
- Punk band End of a Year reference his famous temper in the song "McEnroe."
- McEnroe played with John Deacon of Queen in 1983, but the recordings were never published.
- McEnroe's infamous outburst "You're the pits of the world" (from a Wimbledon 1st round in 1981, the same incident that produced his "You can not be serious" line) was quoted as the last line of the Pretenders song "Pack It Up", from their 1981 album Pretenders II
See also
- MacCAM, an instant replay system used by CBS and other networks, named after "Johnny Mac."
- World number one male tennis player rankings.
- Tennis male players statistics.
- List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions
- Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame
- Borg-McEnroe rivalry
Notes
- McEnroe, with Kaplan, 2002, ''Serious'', p. 17-18.
- McEnroe, with Kaplan, 2002, ''Serious'', p. 24-25.
- Pete Sampras eventually became the youngest US Open Champion at 19 years old.
- ESPN Classic - McEnroe was McNasty on and off the court
- Nike upgrades McEnroe's prize tennis shoes
- Player Profile. John McEnroe (USA)
- McEnroe hasn't lost his touch or tongue
- People. John McEnroe
- Episode "Comes Around" - Season 3, Episode 23
References
- McEnroe, with Kaplan, 2002, ''Serious'', p. 17-18.
- McEnroe, with Kaplan, 2002, ''Serious'', p. 24-25.
- Pete Sampras eventually became the youngest US Open Champion at 19 years old.
- ESPN Classic - McEnroe was McNasty on and off the court
- Nike upgrades McEnroe's prize tennis shoes
- Player Profile. John McEnroe (USA)
- McEnroe hasn't lost his touch or tongue
- People. John McEnroe
- Episode "Comes Around" - Season 3, Episode 23