John McEnroe
Encyclopedia
John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. (born February 16, 1959) is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player from the United States. During his career, he 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. McEnroe also won a record eight season ending championships, comprising five WCT Finals
titles and three Masters Grand Prix
titles from twelve final appearances at these two events, a record he shares with Ivan Lendl
. In addition he won 19 Championship Series
top tier events of the Grand Prix Tour that were the precursors to the current Masters 1000
.
He is best 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 cannot 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, and is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
McEnroe is the older brother of Patrick McEnroe
, who is also a former professional tennis player and the former Captain of the United States Davis Cup
team, a position in which John served previously. They also both are now often commentators for Grand Slam
tennis television coverage in the United States, and John McEnroe is also a commentator on Wimbledon for the BBC
.
, West Germany
, to Kay (née Tresham) and John Patrick McEnroe, Sr. 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 Fordham Law School by night. He has two younger brothers: Mark (born 1964), and former professional tennis player Patrick
(born 1966).
McEnroe grew up in Douglaston
, Queens. He 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 soon started playing regional tournaments. He then 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, New York. McEnroe attended Trinity School
and graduated in 1977.
, and then 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 by an amateur in the open era.
After Wimbledon in 1977, McEnroe entered Stanford University
and won the National Collegiate Athletic Association
singles and team titles in 1978. Later in 1978, he joined the ATP tour and signed his first professional endorsement deal, with Sergio Tacchini
. He won five titles that year, including his first Masters Grand Prix
, beating Arthur Ashe
in straight sets.
In 1979, McEnroe won his first Grand Slam singles title at the 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. He also won the prestigious season-ending WCT Finals
, beating Björn Borg
in four sets. McEnroe won 10 singles and 17 doubles titles that year (for a total of 27 titles, which marked an open-era record).
At Wimbledon
, McEnroe reached the 1980 Wimbledon Men's Singles final—his first final at Wimbledon—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, 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?"
McEnroe exacted revenge two months later, beating Borg in the five-set final of the 1980 US Open.
McEnroe remained controversial 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 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.
However, despite the controversy and merciless criticism from the British press (Ian Barnes of the Daily Express nicknamed him "SuperBrat"), McEnroe again made the Wimbledon men's singles final against Borg. 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 Independence Day
battle, paraphrasing "Yankee Doodle
", "Stick a feather in his cap and call it 'McEnroe-ni'!".
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 also won his second WCT Final
, beating Johan Kriek
in straight sets.
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.
In 1983, McEnroe reached his fourth consecutive Wimbledon final, dropping only one set throughout the tournament (to Florin Segărceanu
) and sweaping 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
. He made the WCT Final
for the third time and beat Ivan Lendl
in an epic five setter. He took the Masters Grand Prix
title for the second time, again beating Lendl in straight sets.
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 42-match winning streak since the start of the season and was the closest McEnroe ever came to winning the French Open. In his autobiography, McEnroe described this loss as his bitterest defeat and conveyed the impression that this was a shadow on his career that could never be chased off.
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 while 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.
He won his fourth WCT Final
, defeating Connors in five sets, and took his third Masters Grand Prix
, beating Ivan Lendl in straight sets.
1984 was 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 winning US 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
in five sets.
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 the question, jerk!" McEnroe then slammed his racquet into a juice cart beside the court. He was suspended for 21 days for exceeding a $7,500 limit on fines that had been created because of his behavior.
In 1985, McEnroe reached his last Grand Slam singles final at the US Open. This time, he was beaten in straight sets by Lendl.
, with whom he had already had a son, Kevin (born May 23, 1986). They had two more children, Sean (born September 23, 1987) and Emily (born May 10, 1991), before divorcing in 1994. When he returned to the tour later in 1986, he won three ATP tournaments, but in 1987 he 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.
, McEnroe became the top-ranked singles player in the world on March 3, 1980. 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.
, 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 McEnroe and anybody.") 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 friend Mary Carillo
.
, 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.
, 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. Rumors of drug abuse
had begun during his second sabbatical. McEnroe denied them at the time, but acknowledged that he had used cocaine
during his career in a 2000 interview that implied that the use occurred during this period, although he denied that the drug affected his play.
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 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 ejected from the tournament 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; therefore, when McEnroe unleashed a volley of abuse at umpire Gerry Armstrong, he was defaulted. He was fined $65,000 for the incidents.
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 Ivanišević
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.
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 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.
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 met Smyth while pursuing his post-tour goal of becoming a rock star. He had learned to play guitar with the help of friends like Eddie Van Halen
and Eric Clapton
. During his divorce, McEnroe formed The Johnny Smyth Band with himself as lead singer and guitarist, began writing songs, and played small gigs
in cities where he played with the senior tour. Although Lars Ulrich
complimented his "natural instinct for music", a bar owner where McEnroe's band played said that "he couldn't sing to save his life." The band toured for two years, but McEnroe suddenly quit in 1997 just before finishing his first album.
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. 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 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. For years he has co-chaired the CityParks Tennis charity benefit, an annual fundraiser produced by the City Parks Foundation
. The charitable event raises crucial funds for New York City's largest municipal youth tennis programs. He collects American contemporary art
, and opened a gallery
in Manhattan
in 1993.
McEnroe still plays regularly on the ATP Champions Tour. His most recent victory came at the Jean-Luc Lagardere Trophy in Paris in 2010, where he defeated Guy Forget in the final. Playing on the Champions Tour allows him to continue his most iconic rivalries with old adversaries Ivan Lendl and Bjorn Borg.
He is a TV commentator at major tournaments. 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
.
In 2009, McEnroe appeared on 30 Rock again, in the episode Gavin Voloure, where Steve Martin (playing the title character) invites him to dinner because he is of the world of "Art critique and yelling."
During the 2009 US Open
, McEnroe and Serbia
n star Novak Djokovic
shared a comic on-court moment after Djokovic's fourth-round win over Radek Štěpánek
. Djokovic, known for his off-court impersonations of other star players (many of them his friends), mimicked McEnroe's pre-service ritual and some of his best-known antics before motioning McEnroe to come down from the press box to join him. McEnroe loosened his shirt, grabbed a racquet, and then proceeded to mimic Djokovic's pre-serve ritual. The two then played a few points, ending with McEnroe hitting a winning cross-court volley; they then congratulated one another at the net.
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. 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 surpass Tom Okker
for the second highest number (71) 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.
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
), nine Grand Slam men's doubles titles, and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. McEnroe also won a record eight season ending championships, comprising five WCT Finals
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
titles and three Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
titles from twelve final appearances at these two events, a record he shares with Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...
. In addition he won 19 Championship Series
Grand Prix Tennis Championship Series 1970-1989
The Championship Series of nine tennis tournaments, formed part of the Grand Prix and World Championship Tennis tours, and were held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America, Africa and Asia...
top tier events of the Grand Prix Tour that were the precursors to the current Masters 1000
ATP World Tour Masters 1000
The ATP World Tour Masters 1000 is a series of nine tennis tournaments that are part of the Association of Tennis Professionals tour, held annually throughout the year in Europe, North America and Asia...
.
He is best remembered for his shot-making artistry and superb volleying; for his famous rivalries with Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
, Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
and Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...
; for his confrontational on-court behavior which frequently landed him in trouble with umpires and tennis authorities; and for the catchphrase "You cannot be serious!" directed toward an umpire during a match at Wimbledon in 1981. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The hall of fame and honors players and contributors to the sport of tennis and includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, and a court tennis facility.-History:The hall of fame and...
in 1999, and is regarded as one of the greatest tennis players of all time.
McEnroe is the older brother of Patrick McEnroe
Patrick McEnroe
Patrick John McEnroe is a former professional tennis player and the former captain of the United States Davis Cup team.Born in Manhasset, New York, he is the younger brother of John McEnroe...
, who is also a former professional tennis player and the former Captain of the United States Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
team, a position in which John served previously. They also both are now often commentators for Grand Slam
Grand Slam (tennis)
The four Major tennis tournaments, also called the Slams, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world tour ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, strength and size of player field, and public attention. They are the Australian Open, the French Open, Wimbledon, and...
tennis television coverage in the United States, and John McEnroe is also a commentator on Wimbledon for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
.
Early life
McEnroe was born in WiesbadenWiesbaden
Wiesbaden is a city in southwest Germany and the capital of the federal state of Hesse. It has about 275,400 inhabitants, plus approximately 10,000 United States citizens...
, West Germany
West Germany
West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....
, to Kay (née Tresham) and John Patrick McEnroe, Sr. His father, who is of Irish descent, was at the time stationed with the United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
. In 1960, the family moved to the New York City area, where McEnroe's father worked daytime as an advertising agent while attending Fordham Law School by night. He has two younger brothers: Mark (born 1964), and former professional tennis player Patrick
Patrick McEnroe
Patrick John McEnroe is a former professional tennis player and the former captain of the United States Davis Cup team.Born in Manhasset, New York, he is the younger brother of John McEnroe...
(born 1966).
McEnroe grew up in Douglaston
Douglaston, Queens
Douglaston, population 14,168 , is a community in the New York City borough of Queens. Douglaston comprises six distinct neighborhoods: Doug Bay, Douglas Manor, and Douglaston Hill, all located north of Northern Boulevard on the peninsula abutting Little Neck Bay; Douglaston Park, located between...
, Queens. He 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 soon started playing regional tournaments. He then 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
Port Washington Tennis Academy
The Port Washington Tennis Academy, located in Long Island, New York, is the largest indoor tennis facility on the U.S. East Coast, with 17 indoor courts. Founded in 1966 as a non-profit tennis facility, it has an internationally acclaimed junior tennis development program...
, Long Island, New York. McEnroe attended Trinity School
Trinity School (New York City)
Trinity School is a private, preparatory, co-educational day school for grades K-12 located in New York City, USA, and a member of both the New York Interschool and the Ivy Preparatory School League...
and graduated in 1977.
Career
As an 18-year-old amateur in 1977, McEnroe won the mixed doubles at the French Open with Mary CarilloMary Carillo
Mary Carillo is an American sportscaster and former professional tennis player.-Tennis career:Carillo played on the women's professional tennis circuit from 1977 to 1980. She was ranked as high as number 33, in the WTA Rankings, from January through March 1980, then retired due to knee injuries...
, and then made it through the qualifying tournament and into the main draw at Wimbledon, where he lost in the semifinals to Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
in four sets. It was the best performance by a qualifier at a Grand Slam tournament and a record performance by an amateur in the open era.
After Wimbledon in 1977, McEnroe entered Stanford University
Stanford University
The Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
and won the National Collegiate Athletic Association
National Collegiate Athletic Association
The National Collegiate Athletic Association is a semi-voluntary association of 1,281 institutions, conferences, organizations and individuals that organizes the athletic programs of many colleges and universities in the United States...
singles and team titles in 1978. Later in 1978, he joined the ATP tour and signed his first professional endorsement deal, with Sergio Tacchini
Sergio Tacchini
Sergio Tacchini is an Italian fashion designer of sportswear and former professional tennis player. The sportswear firm bearing his name is located in Bellinzago Novarese, Novara, Italy.- Tennis career :...
. He won five titles that year, including his first Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
, beating Arthur Ashe
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...
in straight sets.
In 1979, McEnroe won his first Grand Slam singles title at the US Open. He defeated his good friend Vitas Gerulaitis
Vitas Gerulaitis
Vytautas Kevin Gerulaitis was a Lithuanian–American professional tennis player. He is known for winning the men's singles title at one of the two Australian Open tournaments held in 1977. Gerulaitis won the tournament held in December, while Roscoe Tanner won the earlier January tournament...
in straight sets in the final to become the youngest male winner of the singles title at the US Open since Pancho Gonzales
Pancho Gonzales
Ricardo Alonso González , generally known as Richard "Pancho" Gonzales was an American tennis player. He was the world no. 1 professional tennis player for an unequalled eight years in the 1950s and early 1960s...
, who was also 20 in 1948. He also won the prestigious season-ending WCT Finals
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
, beating Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
in four sets. McEnroe won 10 singles and 17 doubles titles that year (for a total of 27 titles, which marked an open-era record).
At Wimbledon
1980 Wimbledon Championships
The 1980 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on :grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon in London in England...
, McEnroe reached the 1980 Wimbledon Men's Singles final—his first final at Wimbledon—where he faced Björn Borg
Björn Borg
Björn Rune Borg is a former world no. 1 tennis player from Sweden. Between 1974 and 1981 he won 11 Grand Slam singles titles. He won five consecutive Wimbledon singles titles and six French Open singles titles...
, 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
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
. In a fourth-set tiebreaker that lasted 20 minutes, 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
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
's countdown show "Who's Number One?"
McEnroe remained controversial when he returned to Wimbledon in 1981
1981 Wimbledon Championships
The 1981 Wimbledon Championships was a tennis tournament played on :grass courts at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in Wimbledon in London in England...
. Following his first-round match against Tom Gullikson
Tom Gullikson
Tom Gullikson is a tennis coach and former professional tennis player from the United States.-Career:...
, McEnroe was fined U.S. $1,500 and came close to being thrown out 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
You Cannot Be Serious
You Cannot Be Serious is a book written by the world's former #1 tennis player John McEnroe ....
, 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.
However, despite the controversy and merciless criticism from the British press (Ian Barnes of the Daily Express nicknamed him "SuperBrat"), McEnroe again made the Wimbledon men's singles final against Borg. 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
Bud Collins
-External links:*** 2001 interview with Collins*...
quipped after the Independence Day
Independence Day (United States)
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain...
battle, paraphrasing "Yankee Doodle
Yankee Doodle
"Yankee Doodle" is a well-known Anglo-American song, the origin of which dates back to the Seven Years' War. It is often sung patriotically in the United States today and is the state anthem of Connecticut...
", "Stick a feather in his cap and call it 'McEnroe-ni'!".
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 also won his second WCT Final
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
, beating Johan Kriek
Johan Kriek
Johan Kriek is a South African American professional male tennis player and founder of the Global Water Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering clean water to the world's neediest communities. Kriek has won two Australian Opens and has reached the semi-finals at the French...
in straight sets.
McEnroe lost to Jimmy Connors
Jimmy Connors
James Scott "Jimmy" Connors is an American former world no. 1 tennis player....
in the 1982 Wimbledon final. McEnroe lost only one set (to Johan Kriek
Johan Kriek
Johan Kriek is a South African American professional male tennis player and founder of the Global Water Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to delivering clean water to the world's neediest communities. Kriek has won two Australian Opens and has reached the semi-finals at the French...
) going into the final; however, Connors won the fourth-set tiebreak and the fifth set.
In 1983, McEnroe reached his fourth consecutive Wimbledon final, dropping only one set throughout the tournament (to Florin Segărceanu
Florin Segarceanu
Florin Segărceanu is a former Romanian tennis player.When John McEnroe won Wimbledon in 1983, Segărceanu was the only player to take a set off McEnroe throughout the entire championship when he won the first set of their second round match.His highest ATP single ranking was number 73 achieved on...
) and sweaping aside the unheralded New Zealander Chris Lewis
Chris Lewis (tennis player)
Chris Lewis , is a former professional tennis player who was 1983 Wimbledon finalist as an unseeded player.A world no. 1 junior player in 1975, the 5'11, 155 lbs. Lewis won 3 career singles titles with a career high ranking of World No. 19. His career singles tour record was 242 wins against...
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
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
. He made the WCT Final
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
for the third time and beat Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...
in an epic five setter. He took the Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
title for the second time, again beating Lendl in straight sets.
At the 1984 French Open, McEnroe lost a close final match to Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl
Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...
. 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 42-match winning streak since the start of the season and was the closest McEnroe ever came to winning the French Open. In his autobiography, McEnroe described this loss as his bitterest defeat and conveyed the impression that this was a shadow on his career that could never be chased off.
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 while dropping just one set throughout the entire tournament, this time to Paul McNamee
Paul McNamee
Paul McNamee is a retired Australian tennis player and prominent sports administrator.-Tennis career:...
.
McEnroe won his fourth US Open
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
title in 1984 by defeating Lendl in straight sets in the final, after defeating Connors in a five-set semifinal.
He won his fourth WCT Final
WCT Finals
The WCT Finals was a tennis tournament that served as the season-ending championship for the World Championship Tennis circuit. The event was held annually in Dallas, Texas, and played on indoor carpet courts. The 1971 quarterfinals and semifinals were played in Houston, and final played at Moody...
, defeating Connors in five sets, and took his third Masters Grand Prix
Masters Cup
The Masters Cup is an annual disc golf tournament held at De Laveaga Disc Golf Course in Santa Cruz, California. The event features both amateur and professional divisions...
, beating Ivan Lendl in straight sets.
1984 was 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 winning US World Team Cup
World Team Cup
The World Team Cup is the international team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals . The tournament has been contested annually since 1978 and is generally considered to be second most prestigious men's team competition in tennis after the Davis Cup.Every year, the eight nations...
and runner-up Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
teams. The only male who has come close to matching McEnroe's 1984 win-loss record since then was Roger Federer
Roger Federer
Roger Federer is a Swiss professional tennis player who held the ATP no. 1 position for a record 237 consecutive weeks, and 285 weeks overall. As of 28 November 2011, he is ranked World No. 3 by the Association of Tennis Professionals . Federer has won a men's record 16 Grand Slam singles titles...
in 2005. Federer was 81–3 before losing his last match of the year to David Nalbandian
David Nalbandian
David Pablo Nalbandian is an Argentine professional tennis player and former world no. 3. He was runner-up at the 2002 Wimbledon Championships and the winner of the Tennis Masters Cup in 2005.-Biography:...
in five sets.
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 the question, jerk!" McEnroe then slammed his racquet into a juice cart beside the court. He was suspended for 21 days for exceeding a $7,500 limit on fines that had been created because of his behavior.
In 1985, McEnroe reached 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 on August 1, 1986, he married actress Tatum O'NealTatum O'Neal
Tatum Beatrice O'Neal is an American actress best known for her film work as a child actress in the 1970s. She is the youngest to win a competitive Academy Award, at the age of 10, which she won for her performance as Addie Loggins in Paper Moon opposite her father Ryan O'Neal...
, with whom he had already had a son, Kevin (born May 23, 1986). They had two more children, Sean (born September 23, 1987) and Emily (born May 10, 1991), before divorcing in 1994. When he returned to the tour later in 1986, he won three ATP tournaments, but in 1987 he 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.
Style of play
A left hander, McEnroe played a Continental forehand, which by the 1980s had almost completely disappeared from the professional tour due to the high level of touch needed to master this shot, especially in on-the-run situations. His backhand was similarly Continental and one-handed. His serve was unique in tennis. McEnroe would stand at least a meter from the center of the court with his back almost entirely to his opponent, thereby frustrating attempts at guessing whether he would pull the serve wide or jam his opponent. Few, including Pete Sampras, have managed to generate the extreme slice which sent his serve skidding low and wide. McEnroe was not known for a power game, but rather for his serve and volley mastery, a style of play that faded in the 2000s with the advent of rackets that enhanced the return of serve above the serve and made approaches to the net following a serve problematic for all but the finest exponents of the craft. He possesses an excellent net game, in which he can redirect powerful shots from his opponents to the open court or use his finesse to execute drop-volleys.World No. 1 ranking
According to the Association of Tennis ProfessionalsAssociation of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
, McEnroe became the top-ranked singles player in the world on March 3, 1980. 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 has been called "the greatest doubles player of all time" and "possibly the greatest team player never to have played a team sport." He was ranked the World No. 1 in doubles for a record 257 weeks. He formed a powerful partnership with Peter FlemingPeter Fleming (tennis player)
Peter Blair Fleming is a former professional tennis player from the United States.Fleming attended Chatham High School, where he won the New Jersey high school individual championship in 1972, during his junior year.Fleming was a highly successful professional tennis player...
, 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 McEnroe and anybody.") McEnroe won a fourth US Open men's doubles title in 1989 with Mark Woodforde
Mark Woodforde
Mark Woodforde is a former professional tennis player from Australia. He is best known as one half of "The Woodies", a doubles partnership with Todd Woodbridge....
, and a fifth Wimbledon men's doubles title in 1992 with Michael Stich
Michael Stich
Michael Detlef Stich is a former professional tennis player from Germany. He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1991...
. He also won the 1977 French Open mixed doubles title with childhood friend Mary Carillo
Mary Carillo
Mary Carillo is an American sportscaster and former professional tennis player.-Tennis career:Carillo played on the women's professional tennis circuit from 1977 to 1980. She was ranked as high as number 33, in the WTA Rankings, from January through March 1980, then retired due to knee injuries...
.
Davis Cup
More than any other player in his era, McEnroe was responsible for reviving U.S. interest in the Davis CupDavis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
, 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
Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the United States...
(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
Peter Fleming (tennis player)
Peter Blair Fleming is a former professional tennis player from the United States.Fleming attended Chatham High School, where he won the New Jersey high school individual championship in 1972, during his junior year.Fleming was a highly successful professional tennis player...
won 14 of 15 Davis Cup doubles matches together.
An epic performance was McEnroe's 6-hour, 22-minute victory over Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander
Mats Wilander is a former World No. 1 tennis player from Sweden. From 1982 through 1988, he won seven Grand Slam singles titles , and one Grand Slam men's doubles title...
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
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
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
World Team Cup
The World Team Cup is the international team championship of the Association of Tennis Professionals . The tournament has been contested annually since 1978 and is generally considered to be second most prestigious men's team competition in tennis after the Davis Cup.Every year, the eight nations...
in 1984 and 1985.
Final years on the tour
McEnroe struggled to regain his form after his 1986 sabbatical. He lost three times in Grand Slam tournaments to Ivan LendlIvan Lendl
Ivan Lendl is a former world no. 1 professional tennis player. Originally from Czechoslovakia, Lendl became a United States citizen. He was one of the game's most dominant players in the 1980s and remained a top competitor into the early 1990s. He is considered to be one of the greatest tennis...
, losing straight-set quarterfinals at both the 1987 US Open
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
and the 1989 Australian Open and a long four-set match, played over two days, in the fourth round of the 1988 French Open. Rumors of drug abuse
Drug abuse
Substance abuse, also known as drug abuse, refers to a maladaptive pattern of use of a substance that is not considered dependent. The term "drug abuse" does not exclude dependency, but is otherwise used in a similar manner in nonmedical contexts...
had begun during his second sabbatical. McEnroe denied them at the time, but acknowledged that he had used cocaine
Cocaine
Cocaine is a crystalline tropane alkaloid that is obtained from the leaves of the coca plant. The name comes from "coca" in addition to the alkaloid suffix -ine, forming cocaine. It is a stimulant of the central nervous system, an appetite suppressant, and a topical anesthetic...
during his career in a 2000 interview that implied that the use occurred during this period, although he denied that the drug affected his play.
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
Michael Chang
Michael Te-Pei Chang is a former American professional tennis player. He is best remembered for becoming the youngest-ever male player to win a Grand Slam singles title when he won the French Open in 1989 at the age of 17....
6–0, 6–3, 6–1 in the third round; Chang would go on to win the title the next year. In 1989, McEnroe won a record fifth title at the World Championship Tennis
World Championship Tennis
World Championship Tennis was a tour for professional male tennis players established in 1968 and lasted until the emergence of the ATP Tour in 1990...
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
Stefan Edberg
Stefan Bengt Edberg is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Sweden. A major proponent of the serve-and-volley style of tennis, he won six Grand Slam singles titles and three Grand Slam men's doubles titles. He also won one season ending championship title the Masters Grand Prix...
in a semifinal. He won the RCA Championships in Indianapolis
Indianapolis
Indianapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Indiana, and the county seat of Marion County, Indiana. As of the 2010 United States Census, the city's population is 839,489. It is by far Indiana's largest city and, as of the 2010 U.S...
and reached the final of the Canadian Open
Canada Masters
The Canada Masters , currently sponsored as the Rogers Cup, is an annual tennis tournament held in Canada. The men's competition is a Masters 1000 event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour. The women's competition is a Premier 5 tournament on the Women's Tennis Association tour...
, where he lost to Lendl. He also won both of his singles rubbers in the quarterfinal Davis Cup
Davis Cup
The Davis Cup is the premier international team event in men's tennis. It is run by the International Tennis Federation and is contested between teams of players from competing countries in a knock-out format. The competition began in 1900 as a challenge between Britain and the United States. By...
tie with Sweden.
Controversy was never far from McEnroe, however; in his fourth round match against Mikael Pernfors
Mikael Pernfors
Mikael Pernfors is a former professional tennis player from Sweden. He is best remembered for reaching the men's singles final at the French Open in 1986.-Career:Pernfors was born in Malmö....
at the 1990 Australian Open, McEnroe was ejected from the tournament 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; therefore, when McEnroe unleashed a volley of abuse at umpire Gerry Armstrong, he was defaulted. He was fined $65,000 for the incidents.
Later that year, McEnroe reached the semifinals of the US Open
U.S. Open (tennis)
The US Open, formally the United States Open Tennis Championships, is a hardcourt tennis tournament which is the modern iteration of one of the oldest tennis championships in the world, the U.S. National Championship, which for men's singles was first contested in 1881...
, losing to the eventual champion, Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras
Pete Sampras is a retired American tennis player and former world no. 1. During his 15-year tour career, he won 14 Grand Slam singles titles and became recognized as one of the greatest tennis players of all time....
in four sets. He also won the Davidoff Swiss Indoors
Davidoff Swiss Indoors
The Swiss Indoors is a professional tennis tournament played on indoor hard courts. Originally an event of the Grand Prix tennis circuit between 1970 and 1989. It is currently part of the World Tour 500 Series of the ATP Tour. It is held annually at the St...
in Basel
Basel
Basel or Basle In the national languages of Switzerland the city is also known as Bâle , Basilea and Basilea is Switzerland's third most populous city with about 166,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet, Basel also has suburbs in France and Germany...
, defeating Goran Ivanišević
Goran Ivaniševic
Goran Ivanišević is a retired Croatian professional tennis player. He is best remembered for being the only person to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon as a wildcard. He achieved this in 2001, having previously been runner-up at the championships in 1992, 1994 and 1998. Ivanišević is famous...
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.
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 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
Boris Becker
Boris Franz Becker is a former World No. 1 professional tennis player from Germany. He is a six-time Grand Slam singles champion, an Olympic gold medalist, and the youngest-ever winner of the men's singles title at Wimbledon at the age of 17...
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
Emilio Sánchez
Emilio Ángel Sánchez Vicario is a former professional tennis player from Spain. He won three Grand Slam doubles titles and the men's doubles silver medal at the 1988 Olympic Games...
8–6 in the fifth set. He lost to Wayne Ferreira
Wayne Ferreira
Wayne Richard Ferreira is a former tennis player from South Africa. He attended Parktown Boys' High School....
in the quarterfinals. At Wimbledon, McEnroe reached the semifinals where he lost in straight sets to the eventual champion Andre Agassi
Andre Agassi
Andre Kirk Agassi is a retired American professional tennis player and former world no. 1. Generally considered by critics and fellow players to be one of the greatest tennis players of all time, Agassi has been called the best service returner in the history of the game...
. McEnroe teamed with Michael Stich
Michael Stich
Michael Detlef Stich is a former professional tennis player from Germany. He is best remembered for winning the men's singles title at Wimbledon in 1991...
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 O'Neal in 1992, and divorced in 1994. He married musician Patty SmythPatty Smyth
Patty Smyth is an American rock and roll musician. She first enjoyed mainstream success in 1982 as lead singer of the band Scandal and later scored a solo #2 hit with her song "Sometimes Love Just Ain't Enough"...
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
Richard Hell
Richard Hell is a singer, songwriter, bass guitarist, and writer.Richard Hell was an innovator of punk music and fashion. He was one of the first to spike his hair and wear torn, cut and drawn-on shirts, often held together with safety pins...
.
McEnroe met Smyth while pursuing his post-tour goal of becoming a rock star. He had learned to play guitar with the help of friends like Eddie Van Halen
Eddie Van Halen
Edward Lodewijk "Eddie" Van Halen is a Dutch-American guitarist, keyboardist, songwriter and producer, best known as the lead guitarist and co-founder of the hard rock band Van Halen, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame...
and Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
. During his divorce, McEnroe formed The Johnny Smyth Band with himself as lead singer and guitarist, began writing songs, and played small gigs
Gig (musical performance)
Gig is slang for a musical engagement in which musicians are hired. Originally coined in the 1920s by jazz musicians, the term, short for the word "engagement", now refers to any aspect of performing such as assisting with performance and attending musical performance...
in cities where he played with the senior tour. Although Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich is a Danish drummer, and one of the founding members of the American thrash metal band Metallica. He was born in Gentofte, Denmark to an upper-middle class family. A tennis player in his youth, Ulrich moved to Los Angeles, California at age sixteen to pursue his training; though rather...
complimented his "natural instinct for music", a bar owner where McEnroe's band played said that "he couldn't sing to save his life." The band toured for two years, but McEnroe suddenly quit in 1997 just before finishing his first album.
McEnroe was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame
International Tennis Hall of Fame
The International Tennis Hall of Fame is located in Newport, Rhode Island, United States. The hall of fame and honors players and contributors to the sport of tennis and includes a museum, grass tennis courts, an indoor tennis facility, and a court tennis facility.-History:The hall of fame and...
in 1999. He now works as a sports commentator
Sports commentator
In sports broadcasting, a commentator gives a running commentary of a game or event in real time, usually during a live broadcast. The comments are normally a voiceover, with the sounds of the action and spectators also heard in the background. In the case of television commentary, the commentator...
in tennis and has regularly appeared in US national telecasts of Grand Slam tennis matches on such networks as CBS, NBC, USA
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, and ESPN
ESPN
Entertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
, as has his brother Patrick. He also commentates on Wimbledon for the BBC in the UK.
Zimbabwe
Zimbabwe is a landlocked country located in the southern part of the African continent, between the Zambezi and Limpopo rivers. It is bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the southwest, Zambia and a tip of Namibia to the northwest and Mozambique to the east. Zimbabwe has three...
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 took over the job.
In July 2004, McEnroe began a CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
talk show entitled McEnroe
McEnroe
McEnroe was a talk show on CNBC hosted by tennis player John McEnroe. It was broadcast July 7, 2004 through December 15, 2004.The show debuted on July 7, 2004. McEnroe's sidekick was John Fugelsang. The show was panned by critics right from its debut, and in August 2004, it was reported that the...
. The show, however, was unsuccessful, twice earning a 0.0 Nielsen rating, and was cancelled within five months. He also hosted The Chair
The Chair (game show)
The Chair is a game show television program that premiered on ABC in January 2002. It was hosted by former tennis champion John McEnroe and directed by Michael A. Simon...
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
Mr. Deeds
Mr. Deeds is a 2002 American comedy film, directed by Steven Brill and starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder. The movie, which is loosely a remake of the 1936 film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, also stars Peter Gallagher, John Turturro, Allen Covert and Steve Buscemi...
and again in 2008 in You Don't Mess with the Zohan
You Don't Mess with the Zohan
You Don't Mess with the Zohan is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Carlito Cabardo, and produced by and starring Adam Sandler. This is the fourth film which has starred Sandler and has been directed by Dugan...
. McEnroe played himself in the 2004 movie Wimbledon
Wimbledon (film)
Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after...
.
McEnroe is active in philanthropy and tennis development. For years he has co-chaired the CityParks Tennis charity benefit, an annual fundraiser produced by the City Parks Foundation
City Parks Foundation
City Parks Foundation is the only independent, nonprofit organization to offer programs in parks throughout the five boroughs of New York City...
. The charitable event raises crucial funds for New York City's largest municipal youth tennis programs. He collects American contemporary art
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
, and opened a gallery
Art gallery
An art gallery or art museum is a building or space for the exhibition of art, usually visual art.Museums can be public or private, but what distinguishes a museum is the ownership of a collection...
in Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
in 1993.
McEnroe still plays regularly on the ATP Champions Tour. His most recent victory came at the Jean-Luc Lagardere Trophy in Paris in 2010, where he defeated Guy Forget in the final. Playing on the Champions Tour allows him to continue his most iconic rivalries with old adversaries Ivan Lendl and Bjorn Borg.
He is a TV commentator at major tournaments. In charity events and World Team Tennis
World Team Tennis
World TeamTennis is a coed professional tennis league played with a unique team format in the United States. Each match consists of five sets. Each set features a different configuration . Coaches, before the match, decide the order in which the sets will be played...
, he has beaten many top players, including Mardy Fish
Mardy Fish
Mardy Simpson Fish is an American professional tennis player, and Olympic silver medalist. He is a hardcourt specialist...
and Mark Philippoussis
Mark Philippoussis
Mark Anthony Philippoussis is an Australian tennis player. He turned professional in 1994. His father is Greek, while his mother is of Italian ancestry....
.
In 2007, McEnroe appeared on the NBC comedy 30 Rock
30 Rock
30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live...
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
Curb Your Enthusiasm
Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself...
.
During the 2009 US Open
2009 US Open (tennis)
The 2009 US Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor hard courts, held from August 31 to September 14, 2009 in the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, New York City, United States. Originally, it was scheduled to end with the mens' singles final match on Sunday,...
, McEnroe and Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
n star Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic
Novak Djokovic is a Serbian professional tennis player who has been ranked world no. 1 by the Association of Tennis Professionals since 4 July 2011. He has won four Grand Slam singles titles: the 2008 and 2011 Australian Open, the 2011 Wimbledon Championships, and the 2011 US Open...
shared a comic on-court moment after Djokovic's fourth-round win over Radek Štěpánek
Radek Štepánek
Radek Štěpánek is a professional tennis player from the Czech Republic.-Career:Štěpánek turned professional in 1997. He started on tour as a doubles specialist, winning 12 ATP titles. Since 2002, Štěpánek has focused on being a better singles player while still playing top-level doubles...
. Djokovic, known for his off-court impersonations of other star players (many of them his friends), mimicked McEnroe's pre-service ritual and some of his best-known antics before motioning McEnroe to come down from the press box to join him. McEnroe loosened his shirt, grabbed a racquet, and then proceeded to mimic Djokovic's pre-serve ritual. The two then played a few points, ending with McEnroe hitting a winning cross-court volley; they then congratulated one another at the net.
Return to the tour
McEnroe returned to the ATPAssociation of Tennis Professionals
The Association of Tennis Professionals or ATP was formed in 1972 by Donald Dell, Jack Kramer, and Cliff Drysdale to protect the interests of male professional tennis players. Since 1990, the association has organized the worldwide tennis tour for men and linked the title of the tour with the...
Tour in 2006 to play two doubles tournaments.
In his first tournament, he teamed with Jonas Björkman
Jonas Björkman
Jonas Lars Björkman is a former World Number 4 Swedish professional tennis player. He is also a former World No. 1 in doubles. Björkman retired from professional tennis after competing at the 2008 Tennis Masters Cup Doubles championships....
to win the title at the SAP Open
SAP Open
The SAP Open is a men's tennis tournament held annually in San Jose, California. It is the second-oldest tennis tournament in the United States, which is still played. It is an ATP World Tour 250 series event on the Association of Tennis Professionals tour...
in San Jose. This was McEnroe's first title since capturing the Paris Indoor
Paris Masters
The Paris Masters is an annual tennis tournament for male professional players held in Paris, France. It is played indoors at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy. The event is part of the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 on the Association of Tennis Professionals Tour...
doubles title in November 1992 with his brother Patrick. The win meant that McEnroe had won doubles titles in four different decades and surpass Tom Okker
Tom Okker
Thomas S. Okker is a former Dutch tennis player. He was ranked among the world's top 10 singles players for seven consecutive years, 1968–74, reaching a career high of world # 3 in 1969. He also was ranked World # 1 in doubles in 1969.-Tennis career:Okker was the Dutch champion from 1964 through...
for the second highest number (71) of doubles titles in history (trailing Todd Woodbridge
Todd Woodbridge
Todd Andrew Woodbridge is an Australian former tennis player. He was born in Sydney and turned professional in 1988. He is best known for his successful Doubles partnerships with Mark Woodforde and later Jonas Björkman...
).
In his second tournament, McEnroe and Björkman lost in the quarter-finals of the tournament in Stockholm.
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 W-L | |Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australian Open Australian Open The Australian Open is the only Grand Slam tennis tournament held in the southern hemisphere. The tournament was held for the first time in 1905 and was last contested on grass in 1987. Since 1972 the Australian Open has been held in Melbourne, Victoria. In 1988, the tournament became a hard court... |
SF | QF | NH | QF | 4R | QF | 0 / 5 | 18–5 | 78.26 | ||||||||||
| French Open | 2R | 3R | QF | QF | F | SF | 1R | 4R | 1R | 1R | 0 / 10 | 25–10 | 71.43 | ||||||
| Wimbledon | SF | 1R | 4R | F | W | F | W | W | QF | 2R | SF | 1R | 4R | SF | 3 / 14 | 59–11 | 84.29 | ||
| US Open | 4R | SF | W | W | W | SF | 4R | W | F | 1R | QF | 2R | 2R | SF | 3R | 4R | 4 / 16 | 66–12 | 84.62 |
| Grand Slam W-L | 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 | 7 / 45 | 168–38 | 81.55 |
| Year End Ranking | 21 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 11 | 4 | 13 | 28 | 20 | Career money: $12,547,797 | ||
Pop-culture appearances
- McEnroe's fiery temper led to him being parodied in pop culture. In 1982, British impressionist Roger KitterRoger KitterRoger Kitter is a British actor best known for playing Captain Alberto Bertorelli in season seven of the British sitcom TV series Allo 'Allo!. He also recorded a song "Chalk Dust - the Umpire Strikes Back" using the moniker 'The Brat'...
made a record called Chalk Dust: The Umpire Strikes Back in which he parodied McEnroe losing his temper during a match. Kitter made the record as "The Brat", and it reached the UK Top 20. - His bursts of rage were parodied in the satirical British programme Spitting ImageSpitting ImageSpitting Image is a British satirical puppet show that aired on the ITV network from 1984 to 1996. It was produced by Spitting Image Productions for Central Television. The series was nominated for 10 BAFTA Awards, winning one for editing in 1989....
, where he and wife Tatum frequently screamed and threw things at each other. He was also lampooned in the Australian The Paul Hogan ShowThe Paul Hogan ShowThe Paul Hogan Show was a popular Australian comedy show which aired on Australian television from 1973 until 1984. It made a star of Paul Hogan who later appeared in Crocodile Dundee. Hogan's friend also appeared in the show, playing Hogan's dim flatmate Strop...
, in which Paul HoganPaul HoganPaul Hogan, AM is an Australian actor best known for his role as Michael "Crocodile" Dundee from the Crocodile Dundee film series, for which he won a Golden Globe award.-Early life and career:...
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 tantrumTantrumA tantrum is an emotional outburst, usually associated with children or those in emotional distress, that is typically characterized by stubbornness, crying, screaming, yelling, shrieking, defiance, angry ranting, a resistance to attempts at pacification and, in some cases, violence...
s, underscored by the Men at WorkMen at WorkMen at Work are an Australian rock band who achieved international success in the 1980s. They are the only Australian artists to have a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United States . They achieved the same distinction of a simultaneous #1 album and #1 single in the United Kingdom...
hit song, "Be Good JohnnyBe Good Johnny"Be Good Johnny" is a 1982 song by Australian band, Men at Work, from their first album, Business as Usual.The song is written from the viewpoint of a 9-year-old boy who is constantly being told to be good, but prefers to daydream rather than concentrate in class or play sports...
". - Punk band End of a YearEnd of a YearEnd of a Year are a post-hardcore/punk outfit based in Cohoes, New York. The band has released three full length albums and several EPs....
reference his famous temper in the song "McEnroe." - McEnroe played with John DeaconJohn DeaconJohn Richard Deacon is a retired English multi-instrumentalist and song writer, best known as the bassist for the rock band Queen. Of the four members of the band, he was the last to join and also the youngest, being only 19 years old when he was recruited by the other members of the band...
of QueenQueen (band)Queen are a British rock band formed in London in 1971, originally consisting of Freddie Mercury , Brian May , John Deacon , and Roger Taylor...
in 1983, but the recordings were never published. - Referenced in former JawbreakerJawbreakerJawbreaker may refer to:* Gobstopper or jawbreaker, a hard candy with multiple layers* Jawbreaker , an American rock band* Jawbreaker , a 1999 film starring Rose McGowan...
frontman Blake Schwarzenbach's new band ForgettersForgettersforgetters is a punk rock band from Brooklyn, New York. In August 2009 shortly after the breakup of The Thorns of Life, Blake Schwarzenbach announced his involvement in a new band, Forgetters...
in the song "Too Small To Fail" with the line "And I broke parole just to get to you/At a stupid show I thought, "This can't be real"/I threw a McEnroe"
Television and filmography
| Year | Production | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1996 | Arliss Arliss -Criticism:This show, which ran for seven seasons, is a prime example of how HBO differs from traditional networks due to its nature as a network its viewers specifically pay to be able to watch. Arliss was cited by so many viewers as the sole reason that they paid for the network that its... |
Himself | Episode: "Crossing the Line" |
| 1997 | Suddenly Susan Suddenly Susan Suddenly Susan is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC from 1996 to 2000. The show takes place at The Gate, a fictitious magazine which is based in San Francisco. Among the magazine's employees is Susan Keane , who always has been cared for by someone else... |
Himself | Episode: "I'll See That and Raise You Susan" |
| 1998 | Frasier Frasier Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars... |
Patrick (radio show caller) | Episode: "Sweet Dreams Frasier (Season 5) The fifth season of Frasier originally aired between September 1997 and May 1998, beginning on September 23, 1997.-List of episodes:... " |
| 2002 | The Chair The Chair (game show) The Chair is a game show television program that premiered on ABC in January 2002. It was hosted by former tennis champion John McEnroe and directed by Michael A. Simon... |
Himself | Hosted for 13 episodes |
| Mr. Deeds Mr. Deeds Mr. Deeds is a 2002 American comedy film, directed by Steven Brill and starring Adam Sandler and Winona Ryder. The movie, which is loosely a remake of the 1936 film Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, also stars Peter Gallagher, John Turturro, Allen Covert and Steve Buscemi... |
Himself | ||
| 2003 | Anger Management Anger Management Anger Management is a 2003 slapstick comedy film starring Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson, directed by Peter Segal and written by David S. Dorfman... |
Himself | |
| Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture... |
Himself | Episode 552, broadcast November 8 | |
| 2004 | Wimbledon Wimbledon (film) Wimbledon is a 2004 romantic comedy film directed by Richard Loncraine. The film centers on a washed-up tennis pro named Peter Colt and an up-and-coming tennis star named Lizzie Bradbury during the Wimbledon Championships.The film was dedicated to Mark McCormack, who died on 16 May 2003 after... |
Himself/commentator | |
| 2006 | Parkinson Parkinson (TV series) Parkinson is a British television talk show that was presented by Sir Michael Parkinson. It was first shown on the BBC from 1971 to 2004, and on ITV from 2004 to 2007.-Background:... |
Himself | broadcast December 16 |
| 2007 | 30 Rock 30 Rock 30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live... |
Himself | Episode: “The Head and the Hair” |
| WFAN WFAN WFAN , also known as "Sports Radio 66" or "The FAN", is a radio station in New York City. The station broadcasts on a clear channel and is owned by CBS Radio... Breakfast Show |
Himself | Co-hosted with brother Patrick on May 8 and May 9 | |
| CSI: NY CSI: NY CSI: NY is an American police procedural television series that premiered on September 22, 2004, on CBS. The show follows the investigations of a team of NYPD forensic scientists and police officers as they unveil the circumstances behind mysterious and unusual deaths as well as other crimes... |
Himself | Episode: “Comes Around CSI: NY (season 3) The third season of CSI: NY originally aired on CBS between September 2006 and May 2007. It consisted of 24 episodes.CSI: NY The Complete Third Season was released on DVD in the U.S. on October 9, 2007.-Series regulars:-Episodes:... ” |
|
| Curb Your Enthusiasm Curb Your Enthusiasm Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American comedy television series produced and broadcast by HBO, which premiered on October 15, 2000. As of 2011, it has completed 80 episodes over eight seasons. The series was created by Seinfeld co-creator Larry David, who stars as a fictionalized version of himself... |
Himself | Episode: “The Freak Book” | |
| 2008 | 30 Rock 30 Rock 30 Rock is an American television comedy series created by Tina Fey that airs on NBC. The series is loosely based on Fey's experiences as head writer for Saturday Night Live... |
Himself | Episode: "Gavin Volure Gavin Volure "Gavin Volure" is the fourth episode of the third season of the American television comedy series 30 Rock, and the 40th overall episode of the series. It was written by co-executive producer John Riggi and directed by Gail Mancuso. The episode originally aired on the National Broadcasting Company ... " |
| You Don't Mess with the Zohan You Don't Mess with the Zohan You Don't Mess with the Zohan is a 2008 American comedy film directed by Dennis Dugan, written by Carlito Cabardo, and produced by and starring Adam Sandler. This is the fourth film which has starred Sandler and has been directed by Dugan... |
Himself | ||
| 2009 | Penn & Teller: Bullshit! | Himself | “Stress” |
| 2010 | Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture... |
Uncredited | Episode 692, broadcast December 18 |
See also
- MacCAMMacCAMMacCAM is a system of slow-motion cameras developed by FastCAM Replay LLC and DEL Imaging Systems LLC used during Tennis matches to replay close or controversial line calls. The system is named after John McEnroe, who was infamous for contesting umpire calls...
, an instant replayInstant replayInstant replay is the replaying of video footage of an event or incident very soon after it has occurred. In television broadcasting of sports events, instant replay is often used during live broadcast, to show a passage of play which was important or remarkable, or which was unclear on first...
system used by CBS and other networks, named after McEnroe. - World number one male tennis player rankings.
- Tennis male players statisticsTennis male players statistics-Professional tennis before the start of the open era:Before the start of the open era in 1968, the professional circuit was much less popular than the traditional amateur circuit. For example, Wimbledon in 1957 was a success despite its being an amateur-only tournament and exclusion of Pancho...
. - List of Grand Slam Men's Singles champions
- Bay Area Sports Hall of FameBay Area Sports Hall of FameThe Bay Area Sports Hall of Fame honors sports figures who have made a significant impact in the San Francisco Bay Area. The organization is a section 501 non-profit, that was created by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce in 1979.-Inductees:...
- Borg-McEnroe rivalryBorg-McEnroe rivalryThe tennis players Björn Borg and John McEnroe met 16 times during their careers with their on-court rivalry highlighted by their contrasting temperaments and styles. Borg was known for his cool and emotionless demeanor on court, while McEnroe was famed for his court-side tantrums. Their rivalry...
Video
- The Wimbledon Collection – Legends of Wimbledon – John McEnroe Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004, Run Time: 52 minutes, ASIN: B0002HOD9U
- The Wimbledon Collection – The Classic Match – Borg vs. McEnroe 1981 Final Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004, Run Time: 210 minutes, ASIN: B0002HODAE
- The Wimbledon Collection – The Classic Match – Borg vs. McEnroe 1980 Final Standing Room Only, DVD Release Date: September 21, 2004, Run Time: 240 minutes; ASIN: B0002HOEK8
- Charlie Rose with John McEnroe (February 4, 1999) Charlie Rose, DVD Release Date: September 18, 2006, ASIN: B000IU3342