John McEnroe

1. John McEnroe YouCannot Be Serious

2. John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. • Born February 16, 1959 • Wiesbaden, West Germany • Irishgrandparents • One of thethegreatesttennisplayersofalltime • Seven Grand Slamsinglestitles • Threeat WimbledonFouratthe US Open

4. YouCannot Be Serious • Publishedin 2002 • Withjournalist James Kaplan • Numberone on the New York Times bestseller list • ”My soul mate, my partner in crime—wewere meant for each other.”

5. "You cannotbe serious" is one of McEnroe's patented lines “I’m Scottish, so we’re not going to have any problems, are we?” ”I guess since my name started with “Mc,” he thought wewere soul brothers! “I’m Irish,” I told him, curtly. Nervously.Things went downhill from there. • ”incompetentfool”

6. YouCannot Be Serious • Start 9/11 • Flashback • Chronologicalorder • Behind the scenes stories through his life and career • Nothingtoo gossipy • ”I didn't have any burning reason to write this book,but it seemed that by looking back, it might help me figure where I want to go next.”

7. The McEnroe males "were vocal about everything... a family of yellers... my father leading the way". • Mother a hard-driving perfectionist • John hates losing • "I didn't throw my racket when a kid... when I lost a match, my usual reaction - until an embarrassingly late age - was to burst into tears."

8. ”SometimesI think I was pushed into something I didn’t really want to do.Tennis, obviously, turned out to be an incredible thing for me, an amazing roller-coaster ride, and a lot more good came out of it than bad, but the truth is that I didn’t really want to pursue it until it just pursued me. Many athletes seem truly to love to play their sport. I don’t think I ever felt that way about tennis. I looked forward to the practice and preparation, but the match itself was a constant battle for me, against two people: the other guy and myself.”

9. ”Here’s what’s going to happen on your first trip to the French—you’re going to play some guy from Europe that you’ve never heard of, and you’re going to get your ass kicked.” ”Thank you, Vitas. Sure enough, the first round in the qualies put me up against someone named Robert Machan, a stiff from Hungary—or so I thought. Before I knew what was happening, the stiff was indeed kicking my ass, 6–3, 2–0. Then it suddenly dawned on me: I was hitting every ball to his backhand. That’s common when you don’t know someone’s game. Out of desperation, I started hitting the ball to his forehand—and, lo and behold, Mr. Machan could not hit a forehand to save his life. On to the second round.”

10. John McEnroe • Semi-finalistat Wimbledon as an 18-year old • Winsthe US Open attheage of 20 • Hisfierycharactershocksthetennisworld • Bad boy of tennis, ”Super-Brat”

11. ”I thoughttennis had hadenough of manners. Tome, “manners” meantsleepinglinesmenat Wimbledon, and bowingandcurtsyingtorichpeoplewithhereditarytitleswhodidn’tpayanytaxes. Mannersmeanttennisclubsthatdemandedyouwearwhiteclothes, and costtoomuchmoneytojoin, andexcludedblacksandJewsandGodknowswhoelse. Mannersmeantthehush-hushatmosphereattennismatches, whereexcitement of anykindwasfrownedupon.Callmepresumptuous, callmeegotistical (and believeme, youwouldn’t be thefirst), but I thoughtthatmaybeIcoulddosomethingaboutallthat.”

12. Onhison-courtbehaviour ”I probablywouldhavedonebetter had I beenablenottolosemytemper: Beenable being thekeywordshere. OnceI beganto go over the line, I shouldhavebeendefaulted. Infact, I wasonlydefaultedtwiceinmycareer—and oncewasfor being latefor a doublesmatch. It’snotputtingtheblameonanyoneelse, butonthewayup, I noticedthatthebetterIgot, and the more money I made, themore thatlines-men, umpires, referees, and tournamentorganizers had toputupwithfromme. The more thatprofessionaltennis’smoneydependedonme, themorethatthingsseemedto be undermycontrolwhen I gotonthatcourt.”

13. Onhison-courtbehaviour • ”I’vefelt awfulvirtuallyeverytimeI’ve had one of myon-courtmeltdowns, withtheexceptionof a fewoccasionswhen I reallybelievedIneededtoletsomeonehaveit. Butthosereallyaretheexceptions. I’veapologized a number of timesafterwardtoumpires and players.”

14. John McEnroe • RivalrywithBorg and Connors • BecomesNo. 1 in the tennis world • ”Borg was the only guy I never had a problem with on or off the court. He made me feel special, and I think I brought him up to another level.” • ”MyrelationshipwithConnorswastheexactopposite of myrelationshipwithBorg—therewaslittlerespectforthe man ortheoccasion of playinghim. Liketwo club fighters, wetrash-talkedeachotheronthechangeovers: Jimmycalledme a baby, and I told himwhat he couldkiss.”

15. ”I’mdeeplyenvious of that. Infact, mybiggestregret, by far—even more thanlosingthe ’84 French Open—is neverhavingbeenabletoturntheothercheek, throw a one-liner, tokeepthingsloose. I shouldhave had more fundoingwhat I wasdoing. Ultimately, I thinkitharks back tomynotenjoyingcompetitivetennisthatmuch. To being afraidtolose.It’san amazing feeling togettothe Wimbledon final and walk out onthecourtto play BjörnBorg. That’stheultimate. Butthebuilduptogettherewasneverpleasant. Firstround, secondround; playingguysyoushould beat. The pressure of everyone’sexpectations—especiallymyown—wasenormous.”

16. ”I wouldn’thave told thisto a soul back then, butasearlyasmyfirst Wimbledon in ’77, I realizedI had thepotentialto be theverybest: thebesttennisplayerintheworld. I confirmeditformyselfasIrosethroughtherankings—butthen, more and more, theproblembecamethat almost everybodywassomebody I shouldn’tloseto.The pressurebecameincomprehensible.Youseeitwiththegreatplayersinany sport, butparticularlyintennis, becauseyou’re out therebyyourself: Disasterscanhappenevenwhenthingsaregoingwell. The reverse is alsotrue—you’renever out of it. Butatthesametime, youcannevertotallyrelax. Forme, thedisastershave almost alwaysoccurredinsidemyownhead.”

17. Onfriendship ”Friendshipis a funnythingonthemen’stennistour. Youcan be friendlyoffthecourt, butwhenyou’reallchasingthesamedollar, youfeelyoucannevertotallylet down yourguard. It’sscrewedup, butthat’sthereality of it: You’rebasicallyonyourown. Inany sport, youhaveenemiesaswellasfriends. I couldn’t stand a number of players, and I don’tthinkit’llcomeas a surprisethatI’vegeneratedafewstrongfeelingsmyself.Sometimes, though, it’seasiertohaveenemiesthantohavefriends—especiallyifyourfriendshappento be fellowprofessionaltennisplayers and you’reonyourwayto being numberoneintheworld.”

18. Onhisrelationshipwithhismother ”I even had tostruggletoact human withmymother. Everynow and then, shewouldbreak down: “Youtreatmesobadly! Whycan’tyoutreatmethewayyoutreatyourfriends?” And I’dsay, “Becauseyou’remymother!” Thenshe’d start crying and I’drealizehowasinine I was being. “Becauseyou’remymother, I cantreatyoulikedirt”—that’sbasicallywhatIwassaying. Youcomefullcirclewhenyouhavekidsyourself. Whenmykidsgiveittome, I realize, Godalmighty, what an ass I was.It’sembarrassing. I reallywasprettymuch of a jerk. Believeitornot, I’m a lotbetternow.”

19. ”Whenyou’reotthereallbyyourself, youtendtoplace a lot of blameon a lot of otherpeople. Ifyou play a poormatch, you’rebusytryingtocomeupwithexcuses. Evenwhen I wasyounger, Inever felt theguyswerejusttoogoodforme: If I lost, therewasalways a reason. I wasn’ttallenoughyet, Iwasn’tstrongenough, Ididn’t play enough. Therearealwaysanynumber of things…. The bottom line is, it’sverydifficultto be out therebyyourself. It’salsodifficulttolookinthemirror and say, “Youknowsomething? Itwasme.”

20. Borgretiresattheage of 25 • 1984, McEnroeon top of his game • Winsat Wimbledon and the US Open • ”I’mthegreatesttennisplayerwhoeverlived—why am I soemptyinside?” • Neverwinsanother major again • Takes a breakfromtennis

21. ”Youcanpick a handful of athletes, over time, whohavechangedthepublic’sperspectiveonhow a sport is played. Lawrence Taylor diditinfootballwiththeposition of outsidelinebacker; Ivan Lendl and Martina Navratilovadiditintennis. Lendl had trainedlike a maniactoreachnumberone; he had lostfifteenpoundson Dr. Robert Haas’sdiet. Mynot-very-funnyjokeatthetime—thatI’dgoneontheHäagen-Dazsdiet—showedthat I could no longertakenumberonecompletelyseriously. I had lostthewilltodowhatittooktostayon top: The territoryuptherewassimplytoopunishing.

22. Whathappenedtome is more or less thesamethingthat’shappenedtoeveryonewho’sbeenon top. Onceyou’velostit, everythingspirals out of control, and it’sdifficulttofindyourway back. The process is gradualratherthansudden, and thewholeway down youkeeptellingyourselfthatthingsaregoingtochange. Little bylittle, however, thebaddaysattheoffice start tooutnumberthegoodones, and painbeginstoreplacethepleasureyouoncetookinyourprofession.”

23. ”It’sverystrange. Youreachthesehighsat a youngage, then part of youkeepssearchingforevertore-createthem. Sayyou’reBorg, and you’reontheSwedishTourismBoard, andyou’re hanging aroundwiththepresident of Sweden, tryingtofigure out howtoencouragepeopletovisitthe country. Is thatgoingtogiveyoutherush of winning Wimbledon? Is playingtheSeniorstour? Sohowdoyougetthatrushagain?That’swhybadthingshappenwithathletes more oftenthanwithotherpeople. Theycan’treachthathighanymore, sotheyhavetogetitartificially, or, iftheydon’tsucceed, feelempty.

24. Mylife feelsgood—and betterallthetime—butasgoodasitgets, sometimesit’shardtoforgetthosetremendousvictories…. That’swhen I havetoremindmyselfthatIreally had no onetosharethosevictorieswith. That’swhen I rememberhowcoldthe top of the mountain was.”

25. ”I oncetold myself that the two things I would never do were work as a commentator and play ontheSeniorstour.”