John McEnroe

Lore & Background

McEnroe won an Open Era record 155 career titles: 77 in singles, 77 in doubles and 1 in mixed doubles. This includes seven singles majors (four at the US Open and three at Wimbledon), nine men's doubles majors, and one mixed doubles major. McEnroe is the only male player to win more than 70 titles in both singles and doubles. His singles match record of 82–3 in 1984 remains the best single-season win rate of the Open Era. McEnroe also excelled at the year-end tournaments, winning eight singles and seven doubles titles, both of which are records. Three of his winning singles year-end championships were at the Masters Grand Prix (the ATP year-end event) and five were at the World Championship Tennis (WCT) Finals, an event that ended in 1989. He was named the ATP Player of the Year and the ITF World Champion three times each: in 1981, 1983 and 1984. McEnroe contributed to five Davis Cup titles for the U.S. and later was team captain. He has stayed active in retirement, often competing in senior events on the ATP Champions Tour, where he has won 25 titles. He also works as a television commentator during the majors and has had cameo roles and served as a narrator in various comedy television series.

Reader's Guide

McEnroe began playing tennis at the Douglaston Club when he was eight. At nine, his parents enrolled him in the Eastern Lawn Tennis Association, followed by competing in regional tournaments, then national juniors tournaments. By twelve he was ranked seventh in his age group, and joined the Port Washington Tennis Academy on Long Island, New York. McEnroe attended Trinity School in Manhattan, graduating in 1977. He began to make his mark as an 18-year-old amateur in 1977, winning both the Junior singles and mixed doubles titles at the French Open. He later progressed through the singles qualifying tournament at Wimbledon and into the main draw, where he lost in the semifinals to Jimmy Connors. After Wimbledon, McEnroe entered Stanford University, winning the NCAA singles title in 1978 and leading the team to an NCAA championship. He joined the ATP tour later that year. In 1979, McEnroe and partner Peter Fleming won the Wimbledon men's doubles title, followed by a win in the US Open doubles. That same week, McEnroe won the singles US Open title, his first major singles title. He defeated Vitas Gerulaitis in straight sets in the final. McEnroe won 10 singles and 17 doubles titles that year for a total of 27 titles, an Open Era record. At Wimbledon in 1980, McEnroe reached the singles final for the first time, facing Björn Borg. In a fourth-set tiebreaker, McEnroe saved five championship points en route to an 18–16 win, but lost the fifth set 8–6. Two months later McEnroe bested Borg in the five-set final of the 1980 US Open. In 1981, McEnroe again reached the Wimbledon men's singles final against Borg and prevailed in four sets. Borg and McEnroe had their final confrontation in the final of the 1981 US Open, which McEnroe won in four sets, becoming the first man since the 1920s to win three consecutive US Open singles titles. McEnroe also won his second WCT Final, beating Johan Kriek in straight sets. In 1982, McEnroe lost to Connors in the Wimbledon final, then lost to Ivan Lendl in straight sets in the semifinals at the US Open.

Did You Know?

• McEnroe was born in Wiesbaden, West Germany, to American parents; his father was stationed with the United States Air Force.
• McEnroe's Irish paternal grandfather was from Ballyjamesduff in County Cavan and his grandmother was from County Westmeath.
• McEnroe made famous the phrase 'you cannot be serious' during his matches.