John McEnroe

John McEnroe
John McEnroe 2008 in New York
Nation:	United States
Birthday:	February 16, 1959
Size:	180 cm
1st professional season:	1978
Resignation:	1992
Playing hand:	Left, one-handed backhand
Prize money:	$ 12,552,132
singles
Career record:	881: 198
Career title:	77
Highest ranking:	1 (March 3, 1980)
Weeks as No. 1:	170
Grand Slam record
Double
Career record:	530: 103
Career title:	78
Highest ranking:	1 (May 21 1979)
Weeks as No. 1:	257
Grand Slam record
Mixed
Grand Slam record
Sources: official player profiles at the ATP / WTA and ITF (see web links )

John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. [ ʤɑn ˈmækənroʊ ] (born February 16, 1959 in Wiesbaden , Germany ) is a retired American tennis player . He dominated this sport in the first half of the 1980s.

Tennis career

McEnroe won seven Grand Slam tournaments in singles and nine Grand Slam titles in doubles in his career . He finished a season at the top of the world rankings four times in a row (1981-1984) and was the dominant player on the ATP Tour in the first half of the 1980s .

In the 15 years of his career he won a total of 77 singles and 78 doubles titles as well as one in mixed (the total number of 156 titles is a record in men's tennis), including three Wimbledon times, four times the US Open and three times the Masters . The Australian Open and the French Open , however, McEnroe won neither doubles nor singles. Only in the mixed competition was he victorious at the French Open in 1977. He also won the Masters three times in singles and seven times in a row in doubles. In his individual record, 881 games won compared to 198 lost games - the rate of 81.65% corresponds to the sixth best career record behind Novak Đoković , Björn Borg , Rafael Nadal , Roger Federer and Jimmy Connors . He won 85.3% of his games on indoor courts and 84.3% of his matches on carpet courts, both top scores in the Open Era.

With five wins he is one of the most successful Davis Cup players in history. He won five titles with the US team (1978, 1979, 1981, 1982 and 1992). In 1982 he managed the still valid Davis Cup record of 12-0 wins (singles and doubles). As an outstanding doubles player, he was able to win a tournament in both singles and doubles 29 times, more often than any other player in modern professional tennis. His nine Grand Slam doubles titles, in addition to one in mixed doubles alongside Marie Carillo at the 1977 French Open, between 1977 and 1992 make him one of the most successful doubles players in history. He won the Masters tournament in doubles seven times (record) and was at the top of the doubles world rankings for 257 weeks. In 1979 he set the professional tennis record of a total of 27 won tournaments (10 singles, 17 doubles) with a record of 178 won matches. With his victory in Wimbledon singles in 1981, he ended Björn Borg's winning streak . That same year, he was named Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press .

He reached his career high point in 1984 with 13 tournament wins (82: 3 wins, win rate of 96.47% is Open Era record) including Wimbledon, the US Open and the Masters. He set a record this season with 42 wins from the start of the season, the series ended in the final of the French Open against Ivan Lendl . In the following year he won numerous Grand Prix titles, but not a Grand Slam tournament. After losing to Lendl at the US Open, he lost the top spot in the ATP world rankings, which he would never regain. In 1986 and 1987 he took several months off and it looked like his career was coming to an end. In 1989 he was able to fight his way up to fourth place in the world rankings. However, he no longer achieved great successes in the individual.

At the end of 1992 he ended his professional career. In his senior year he won with the US team again (for the fifth time in his career) the Davis Cup and a double title at Wimbledon (with Michael Stich ). He also reached the individual semi-finals at Wimbledon, which he lost to Andre Agassi . He later said he had never officially retired from professional tennis.

With over 20 titles since 1998, he is the most successful player on the ATP Champions Tour , in which former world-class players play tournaments around the world.

John McEnroe on serve

Record world number one in men's singles

rank	Tennis player	Weeks
1.	Roger Federer	310
2.	Pete Sampras	286
3.	Novak Đoković	283
4th	Ivan Lendl	270
5.	Jimmy Connors	268
6th	Rafael Nadal	209
7th	John McEnroe	170
8th.	Bjorn Borg	109
9.	Andre Agassi	101
As of August 26, 2020

In 2006 he played another ATP tournament and on February 19th he won the tournament in San José alongside Jonas Björkman , his 72nd double title (in four decades). This puts him, together with Tom Okker, in second place in the list of the most successful double players in history. It leads Todd Woodbridge with 83 wins. He played his last tournament on the ATP Tour in October 2006 in Stockholm , where he reached the quarter-finals - again alongside Jonas Björkman.

Style of play

John McEnroe was a classic attacking player, as he could often be found in international tennis in the 1970s, 1980s and still in the 1990s. His entire game was aimed at reaching the net position as quickly as possible and ending the attack with a volley. His striking technique in baseline strokes aimed to "take" the speed of the ball hit by the opponent. He achieved this by playing the balls with only a short backward movement of the racket in the forward movement to the net while they were still in the ascent phase. For this reason, many balls were played unorthodox, with an almost open stroke position. He developed a large part of the pressure on the opponent due to the good angle play resulting from the early hit point and the opponent's shorter reaction time. Because of this way of playing, by "blocking" to exploit the pressure of the opponent, McEnroe is incorrectly referred to in various sources as a counter player. The tactics of a counterattack, however, are primarily geared towards avoiding their own mistakes. Only when the opportunity appears favorable does he use the pace of the opponent or accelerate the pace of the rally himself. McEnroe designed the game actively at all times and took a high, but calculated risk. The mastery of the mentioned stroke technique meant that McEnroe was also one of the best return players of his time, as a return often has to be played with almost no backward movement.

His striking technique was also unusual when playing net. He played the volleys with an open hitting position, moving the club largely from the wrist and forearm into the hitting position. His extraordinary feel for the ball and the exact point of impact far in front of the body allowed him to use this technique.

For an attacking player, McEnroe was rather short at 180 cm; For this reason alone , unlike other attacking players such as Boris Becker or Goran Ivanišević , his serve was not geared towards high speed, but rather on precise placement with an extremely variable cut. Due to his unusual foot position when serving, parallel to the net, he achieved a large part of the twist, optionally as a slice or topspin from the body rotation in the stroke movement. This made it difficult for his opponents to see the direction and spin of the ball.

His style of play was only promising on fast pitches such as grass or hard courts. He remained untitled on the clay courts that are more common in Europe. He never succeeded in winning the French Open in Paris.

His self-confident, almost arrogant playing style with an open and upright strike position, in combination with his often provocative behavior towards referees and linesmen, the officials, but occasionally also the audience, made him a controversial player personality. On the one hand, his extraordinary abilities and his unconditional will to win were admired; on the other hand, his choleric, often bullying behavior was heavily criticized on the pitch. In the round of 16 of the Australian Open 1990 against the Swede Mikael Pernfors , McEnroe was disqualified by the British chair referee Gerry Armstrong for unsportsmanlike conduct and insults .

Activities outside of sport

In 2002 he hosted the British-American quiz show The Chair and had a cameo in the film Mr. Deeds , also in 2003 in Die Angerprobe , 2008 in Don't Mess With The Messiners and 2011 in Jack and Jill (all four with Adam Sandler ). In 2004 he and Chris Evert were the two commentators on the lawn spectacle in the film Wimbledon - Game, Set and ... Love . McEnroe also works as a commentator at GS tournaments ( Emmy- nominated), as a gallery owner and as a musician. In CSI: NY (Season 3, Episode 23, "Nachspiel") he played himself.

Private

In 1984 McEnroe met actress Tatum O'Neal and he married her on August 1, 1986 in Oyster Bay , New York . With her he has three children, Kevin John (born May 24, 1986), Sean Timothy (born September 23, 1987) and Emily Katherine (born May 10, 1991). The marriage ended in divorce in November 1992. In 1997 he married the musician Patty Smyth , with whom he has two children.

His younger brother Patrick McEnroe was also a professional tennis player and Davis Cup captain of the USA until 2010.

Outbursts of anger

McEnroe was feared because of his outbursts of anger. For example, he shot a ball at the then ball boy Hayden Christensen . His tirades on the tennis court and his phrase "You cannot be serious!" ("You can't be serious!") Were notorious. The latter was used in a few commercials, such as one for the car company Seat . There he discussed with a police officer whether he parked his car inside or outside the marking. In the Hollywood comedy Die Wutprobe , he played the role of a choleric patient of the psychiatrist Dr. Rydell ( Jack Nicholson ).

Quotes

"If you lose your greatest opponent, you also lose part of yourself."

- John McEnroe on Björn Borg's resignation in 1983

Grand Slam successes

Victories

year	competition	Final opponent	Result
1979	US Open	Vitas gerulaitis	7: 5, 6: 3, 6: 3
1980	US Open	Bjorn Borg	7: 6, 6: 1, 6: 7, 5: 7, 6: 4
1981	Wimbledon	Bjorn Borg	4: 6, 7: 6, 7: 6, 6: 4
1981	US Open	Bjorn Borg	4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 3
1983	Wimbledon	Chris Lewis	6: 2, 6: 2, 6: 2
1984	Wimbledon	Jimmy Connors	6: 1, 6: 1, 6: 2
1984	US Open	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 1

Final defeats

year	competition	Tournament winner	Result
1980	Wimbledon	Bjorn Borg	6: 1, 5: 7, 3: 6, 7: 6, 6: 8
1982	Wimbledon	Jimmy Connors	6: 3, 3: 6, 7: 6, 6: 7, 4: 6
1984	French Open	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 6: 2, 4: 6, 5: 7, 5: 7
1985	US Open	Ivan Lendl	6: 7, 3: 6, 4: 6

Career record

Tournament / statistics	1977	1978	1979	1980	1981	1982	1983	1984	1985	1986	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992
Australian Open	(-)	-	-	-	-	-	HF	-	VF	-	-	-	VF	AF	-	VF
French Open	(2R)	-	-	3R	VF	-	VF	F.	HF	-	1R	AF	-	-	1R	1R
Wimbledon	(HF)	1R	AF	F.	S.	F.	S.	S.	VF	-	-	2R	HF	1R	AF	HF
US Open	(AF)	HF	S.	S.	S.	HF	AF	S.	F.	1R	VF	2R	2R	HF	3R	AF
Tournament victories	(0)	5	10	9	10	5	7th	13	8th	3	0	2	3	1	1	0
World ranking	(21)	4th	3	2	1	1	1	1	2	14th	10	11	4th	13	28	20th

Brackets indicate information from amateur years.

AF = round of 16; VF = quarter finals; HF = semifinals; F = final; S = tournament victory; Digit = 1.-3. Tournament round

Tournament victories

Legend

Grand Slam (7)

Masters Grand Prix (3)

Grand Prix Championship Series (19)

Grand Prix World Series (48)

No.	year	competition	Topping	Final opponent	Result
1.	1978	Hartford	Carpet (i)	Johan Kriek	6: 2, 6: 4
2.	1978	San Francisco	Carpet (i)	Dick Stockton	2: 6, 7: 6, 6: 2
3.	1978	Stockholm	Hard court (i)	Tim Gullikson	6: 2, 6: 2
4th	1978	Wembley	Carpet (i)	Tim Gullikson	6: 7, 6: 4, 7: 6, 6: 2
5.	1978	New York City	Carpet (i)	Arthur Ashe	6: 7, 6: 3, 7: 5
6th	1979	New Orleans	Carpet (i)	Roscoe Tanner	6: 4, 6: 2
7th	1979	Milan	Carpet (i)	John Alexander	6: 3, 6: 3
8th.	1979	San Jose	Carpet (i)	Peter Fleming	7: 6, 7: 6
9.	1978	Dallas	Carpet (i)	Bjorn Borg	7: 5, 4: 6, 6: 2, 7: 6
10.	1979	Queen's Club	race	Víctor Pecci	6: 7, 6: 1, 6: 1
11.	1979	South Orange	Hard court (i)	John Lloyd	6: 7, 6: 4, 6: 0
12.	1979	US Open	Hard court	Vitas gerulaitis	7: 5, 6: 3, 6: 3
13.	1979	San Francisco (2)	carpet	Peter Fleming	4: 6, 7: 5, 6: 2
14th	1979	Stockholm (2)	Hard court (i)	Gene Mayer	6: 7, 6: 3, 6: 3
15th	1979	Wembley (2)	Carpet (i)	Harold Solomon	6: 3, 6: 4, 7: 5
16.	1980	Richmond	Carpet (i)	Roscoe Tanner	6: 1, 6: 2
17th	1980	Memphis	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	7: 6, 7: 6
18th	1980	Milan (2)	Carpet (i)	Vijay Amritraj	6: 1, 6: 4
19th	1980	Queen's Club (2)	race	Kim Warwick	6: 3, 6: 1
20th	1980	US Open (2)	Hard court	Bjorn Borg	7: 6, 6: 1, 6: 7, 5: 7, 6: 4
21st	1980	Brisbane	race	Phil Dent	6: 3, 6: 4
22nd	1980	Sydney Indoor	Hard court (i)	Vitas gerulaitis	6: 3, 6: 4
23.	1980	Wembley (3)	Carpet (i)	Gene Mayer	6: 4, 6: 3, 6: 3
24.	1980	Montreal	Carpet (i)	Vijay Amritraj	6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 1
25th	1981	Boca Raton	sand	Guillermo Vilas	6: 7, 6: 4, 6: 0
26th	1981	Milan (3)	Carpet (i)	Bjorn Borg	7: 6, 6: 4
27.	1981	Frankfurt am Main	Carpet (i)	Tomáš Šmíd	6: 2, 6: 3
28.	1981	los Angeles	Hard court	Sandy Mayer	6: 7, 6: 3, 6: 3
29	1981	Dallas (2)	Carpet (i)	Johan Kriek	6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 4
30th	1981	Queens's Club (3)	race	Brian Gottfried	7: 6, 7: 5
31.	1981	Wimbledon	race	Bjorn Borg	4: 6, 7: 6, 7: 6, 6: 4
32.	1981	Cincinnati	Hard court	Chris Lewis	6: 3, 6: 4
33.	1981	US Open (3)	Hard court	Bjorn Borg	4: 6, 6: 2, 6: 4, 6: 3
34.	1981	Sydney Indoor (2)	Hard court (i)	Roscoe Tanner	6: 4, 6: 3
35.	1982	Philadelphia	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	6: 3, 6: 3, 6: 1
36.	1982	San Francisco (3)	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	6: 1, 6: 3
37.	1982	Sydney Indoor (3)	Hard court (i)	Gene Mayer	6: 4, 6: 1, 6: 4
38.	1982	Tokyo Indoor	Carpet (i)	Peter McNamara	7: 6, 7: 5
39.	1982	Wembley (4)	Carpet (i)	Brian Gottfried	6: 3, 6: 2, 6: 4
40.	1983	Philadelphia (2)	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	4: 6, 7: 6, 6: 4, 6: 3
41.	1983	Dallas (3)	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	6: 2, 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 7, 7: 6
42.	1983	Forest Hills	sand	Vitas gerulaitis	6: 3, 7: 5
43.	1983	Wimbledon (2)	race	Chris Lewis	6: 2, 6: 2, 6: 2
44.	1983	Sydney Indoor (4)	Hard court (i)	Henri Leconte	6: 1, 6: 4, 7: 5
45.	1983	Wembley (5)	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	7: 5, 6: 1, 6: 4
46.	1983	New York City (2)	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 4
47.	1984	Philadelphia (3)	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 3, 7: 6
48.	1984	Richmond (2)	Carpet (i)	Steve Denton	6: 3, 7: 6
49.	1984	Madrid	Carpet (i)	Tomáš Šmíd	6-0, 6-4
50.	1984	Brussels	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	6: 1, 6: 3
51.	1984	Dallas (4)	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	6: 1, 6: 2, 6: 3
52.	1984	Forest Hills (2)	sand	Ivan Lendl	6: 4, 6: 2
53.	1984	Queen's Club (4)	race	Leif Shiras	6: 1, 3: 6, 6: 2
54.	1984	Wimbledon (3)	race	Jimmy Connors	6: 1, 6: 1, 6: 2
55.	1984	Toronto	Hard court	Vitas gerulaitis	6: 0, 6: 3
56.	1984	US Open (4)	Hard court	Ivan Lendl	6: 3, 6: 4, 6: 1
57.	1984	San Francisco (4)	Carpet (i)	Brad Gilbert	6: 4, 6: 4
58.	1984	Stockholm (3)	Hard court (i)	Mats Wilander	6: 2, 3: 6, 6: 2
59.	1984	New York City (3)	Carpet (i)	Ivan Lendl	7: 5, 6: 0, 6: 4
60.	1985	Philadelphia (4)	Carpet (i)	Miloslav Mečíř	6: 3, 7: 6, 6: 1
61.	1985	Houston	Carpet (i)	Kevin Curren	7: 5, 6: 1, 7: 6
62.	1985	Milan (4)	Carpet (i)	Järryd is different	6: 4, 6: 1
63.	1985	Chicago	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	without a fight
64.	1985	Atlanta	Carpet (i)	Paul Annacone	7: 6, 7: 6, 6: 2
65.	1985	Stratton Mountain	Hard court	Ivan Lendl	7: 6, 6: 2
66.	1985	Montreal (2)	Hard court	Ivan Lendl	7: 5, 6: 3
67.	1985	Stockholm (4)	Hard court (i)	Järryd is different	6: 1, 6: 2
68.	1986	Los Angeles (2)	Hard court	Stefan Edberg	6: 2, 6: 3
69.	1986	San Francisco (5)	Carpet (i)	Jimmy Connors	7: 6, 6: 3
70.	1986	Scottsdale	Hard court	Kevin Curren	6: 3, 3: 6, 6: 2
71.	1988	Tokyo	Hard court	Stefan Edberg	6: 2, 6: 2
72.	1988	Detroit	Carpet (i)	Aaron Krickstein	7: 5, 6: 2
73.	1989	Lyon	Carpet (i)	Jakob Hlasek	6: 3, 7: 6
74.	1989	Dallas (5)	Carpet (i)	Brad Gilbert	6: 3, 6: 3, 7: 6
75.	1989	Indianapolis	Hard court	Jay Berger	6: 4, 4: 6, 6: 4
76.	1990	Basel	Hard court (i)	Goran Ivanišević	6: 7, 4: 6, 7: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4
77.	1991	Chicago (2)	Carpet (i)	Patrick McEnroe	3: 6, 6: 2, 6: 4

Movies

• 2017: Borg / McEnroe : Biography, Director: Janus Metz, Script: Ronnie Sandahl (published early September 2017)

See also

• List of winners of the Grand Slam tournaments (men's singles)
• List of the longest winning streaks in men's tennis

Web links

Commons : John McEnroe  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about John McEnroe in the catalog of the German National Library
• ATP profile of John McEnroe (English)
• ITF Profile of John McEnroe (English)
• Davis Cup stats by John McEnroe (English)
• John McEnroe in the "International Tennis Hall of Fame" (English; with picture)
• Profile on wimbledon.org ( Memento from February 22, 2007 in the Internet Archive )
• John McEnroe in the Internet Movie Database (English)
• Article dossier on John McEnroe in Der Spiegel

Individual evidence

1. ^ Pronunciation of "John McEnroe"
2. ^ Tactics and style of play by John McEnroe ( Memento from February 3, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
3. ^ Movement studies by McEnroe in volleyball with comparison to "school-like" volleyball by other players such as Martina Navratilova ( memento of the original from October 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ^ Movement studies by John McEnroe on impact ( memento of the original from October 19, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
5. ↑ Davis Cup: The only man who could tame John McEnroe: Referee Gerry Armstrong. In: Austrian Tennis Association . January 30, 2013, accessed September 10, 2018 .