Athletes - John McEnroe

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	Athletes - John McEnroe

|- | Country: || United States |- | Residence: || New York, New York, USA |- | Height: || 5 ft 11 in (180 cm) |- | Weight: || 165 lbs. (75 kg) |- | Plays: || Left |- | Turned pro: || 1978 |- | Highest singles ranking: || 1 (3/3/1980) |- | Singles titles: || 77 |- | Career Prize Money: || $12,539,622 |- ! colspan="2" bgcolor="#ffffff" | Grand Slam Record
Titles: 7 |- | Australian Open | SF (1983) |- | French Open | F (1984) |- | Wimbledon | W (1981, 1983-84) |- | US Open | W (1979-1981, 1984) |}

John Patrick McEnroe, Jr. (born February 16 1959 in Wiesbaden, Germany) 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. He is well remembered for his shot-making artistry and the best volley in the game, for his series of classic encounters with Björn Borg, for his fiery on-court temperament (which frequently got him into trouble), and for the catchphrase "You cannot be serious!". He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in Newport, Rhode Island, in 1999.

Early success

McEnroe was born in Germany where his father was stationed with the United States Air Force. He is of Irish Catholic descent. When he was less than a year old, his family moved to New York City, and he grew up in Douglaston, Queens.

McEnroe first took the tennis world by storm in 1977 when, at the age of 18, he made it through the qualifying tournament into the main draw at Wimbledon, and then proceeded to make it all the way to the semi-finals where he eventually lost in four sets to Jimmy Connors. It was the best performance ever by qualifier at a Grand Slam tournament, and a record performance for an amateur in the open era.

Shortly after, McEnroe entered Stanford University and won the NCAA singles and team titles in 1978. After that, he joined the professional tour.

McEnroe signed one of the first professional endorsement deals in tennis with Nike in 1978.

McEnroe's game combined shot-making artistry, deft volleys, and a fast, attacking style of play. His sharp reflexes enabled him to return the biggest serves and passing shots masterfully, and the variety, delicacy and quickness of his play delighted crowds. However McEnroe also quickly became known for his competitive fire and volatile temper. Verbal outbursts seemed to be a key way in which he motivated himself to battle through tough situations during matches, but this frequently got him into trouble.

McEnroe won his first Grand Slam singles title in 1979 at the US Open. He defeated Vitas Gerulaitis in straight sets in the final to become the youngest winner of the championships in 31 years (since Pancho Gonzales, who was also 20, won in 1948). He won 10 singles and 17 doubles titles that year (for a total of 27 titles, which marked an open-era record).

Famous battles with Björn Borg (1980-81)

In 1980, McEnroe reached the men's singles final at Wimbledon for the first time, where he faced the legendary Swedish player 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 semi-final victory over Jimmy Connors. But the final itself is remembered for all the right reasons—it was arguably the greatest Wimbledon final ever. In a titanic fourth-set tie-breaker that is often simply called "that tie-breaker", which lasted 20 minutes, McEnroe saved five match points from Borg and eventually won the tie-break 18-16. However in the end McEnroe could not break Borg in the fifth set, which the Swede won 8-6.

Revenge for McEnroe came quickly. The pair met again in the final of the US Open two months later, and this time it was McEnroe who emerged the victor in another outstanding five-set encounter.

Controversy dogged McEnroe from the start when he returned to Wimbledon in 1981. Following his second round match against Tom Gullikson, McEnroe was fined $1,500 and came close to being thrown out of the championships as a result of an infamous blow-up in which he called umpire Ted James "the pits of the world", and then swore at tournament referee Fred Hoyles. The phrase "you cannot be serious", which several years later would become the title of McEnroe's autobiography, was also made famous during the 1981 Wimbledon campaign as a retort McEnroe frequently made in response to umpires' calls during his matches. This behaviour was in sharp contrast to that of Borg, who was painted by the tabloid press as an unflappable "ice man".

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Athletes - John McEnroe

Early success

Famous battles with Björn Borg (1980-81)

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