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'Super Brat': John McEnroe Crash bang wallop. John Patrick McEnroe was in town and content with destroying tennis' image as a middle class sport. In 1977 ´Super Brat´ was introduced to the professional tennis tour and he was an instant hit. He wouldn't turn professional until after winning the U.S. Inter-collegiate singles as a Stanford freshman in 1978, so an an 18-year-old McEnroe made his first tournament in Paris. Some likened it to a boy edging into a man´s territory. This first excursion registered his first trophy of 17 majors, when he won the mixed doubles with Mary Carillo, as well as the French junior singles.
After an electrifying Wimbledon where he played through the qualifying he defied the odds and made his way to the semi-finals, losing to Jimmy Connors 6-3, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4. It was also a record for an amateur in the open era. Immediately he was a player to reckon with and fellow professionals knew this. The left-hander was born on 16th February 1959, in Wiesbaden, Germany, where his father was stationed with the U.S. Air Force. He grew up in the Long Island suburb of Douglaston, New York though. Standing at five feet 11 inches, the 170lb McEnroe stands as perhaps the most skilled - and arguably - controversial of all players. He was brilliant in doubles and singles, distinguished by shotmaking artistry, competitive fire and a volatile temper. The last led to heavy fines, suspensions and, at the 1990 Australian Open, an extraordinary disqualification for showering abusive language on court officials while leading Mikael Pernfors.
A magnificent volleyer with a feathery touch, he was an attacker whose fast court style netted four U.S. Open and three Wimbledon singles. But he had the baselining strength to have done well on clay at the French, a title he might have won at his zenith in 1984. In the final he led Ivan Lendl, 2-0 in sets only to be distracted by temperamental outbursts, and was beaten 3-6, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 7-5. This was to be the worst moment of McEnroe´s career. He revived American interest in the Davis Cup that had been shunned by Connors and other leading countrymen, saying, "My mother made me promise her I'd always play for my country if I was asked." Right from the start, as a 19-year-old rookie in 1978, he gave captain Tony Trabert´s team a lift giving the United States the Cup that had belonged to other countries since 1973. In the championship round against Britain at Rancho Mirage, California, he showed none of the jitters, which were so common amongst the greats making their debuts in such a nationalistic setting. McEnroe thrashed John Lloyd 6-1, 6-2, 6-2 and Buster Mottram 6-2, 6-2, 6-1 lsoing just ten games. Nobody had been stingier in a final. He was the most callow American to do so well in the Cup round, although Lew Hoad, a younger 19-year-old by eight months for his victorious Australia also took both his singles in 1953. Michael Chang aged 18, would later win one singles in the 1990 final against Australia. McEnroe continued as a mainstay in helping the United States win four more Cups through to 1992 and set numerous of his country's records. For example: years played (12), ties (30), singles wins (41), singles and doubles wins altogether (59). As a workhorse he played both singles and doubles in 13 series, and he and Peter Fleming won 14 of 15 Cup doubles together. An epic performance was his 6-hour-32 minute, five-set victory over Mats Wilander in St. Louis 9-7, 6-2, 15-17, 3-6, 8-6, clinching a 1982 quarterfinal 3-2 win over Sweden. Another thriller was his five-set win over Jose-Luis Clerc of Argentina 7-5, 5-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 to send the Cup to America in the 1981 final at Cincinnati.
In 1982 France built a home-court advantage for the final, especially to counter McEnroe, installing clay indoors at Grenoble. But McEnroe beat Yannick Noah 12-10, 1-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, at the outset to launch a 4-1 victory. He beat Henri Leconte, in singles, and paired with Fleming for the doubles win. A decade later he was on another Cup winnning side, as doubles partner to Pete Sampras in the triumph over Switzerland at Fort Worth, Texas, in his last Davis Cup mission. At 20 he won the U.S. Open for the first time over fellow New Yorker Vitas Gerulaitis, becoming the youngest winner since Pancho Gonazles, who was also 20, 31 years before. He repeated in dramatic battles with Bjorn Borg in 1980, 7-6 (7-4) 6-1, 6-7 (5-7), 5-7, 6-4, and 1981, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3, the latter seemingly the straw that broke the Swede's sensational career. Borg retired shortly thereafter. McEnroe won for the last time in 1984 over Connors 6-3, 6-4, 6-1. But he was defeated in the Flushing Meadow rematch 12 months later, relinquishing the world number one ranking to Ivan Lendl, which he had held for four years. His most celebrated result may have been at the 1980 Wimbledon final called by many of all. Beaten, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, 6-7 (16-18), McEnroe nervelessly staved off five points during the monumental fourth-set to fight Borg to the fifth-set wire. A later he cut down Borg on Centre Court, 4-6, (7-1), 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, ending Bjorn's incredible year, 41-match Wimbledon run. McEnroe won again in 1983 and 1984, the pinnacle of his virtuosity in the latter, a virtually flawless wipeout of Connors, 6-1, 6-2, 6-2. There were so many ups and downs at Wimbledon, where he came close to being tossed to our prior to his initial championship 1981, for a second-round flareup while beating Tom Gullikson. It was the infamous scene of labeling the umpire Ted James: "Pits of the world" and calling the referee every name but Fred Hoyles (which was his name) that set the tone for McEnroe's image. He went out in grand manner in 1992, unseeded and ranked number 30 in the world as a 33-year-old Mac wound up where he'd begun 15 years before: the semis, on a stirring knockout of ninth seeded Guy Forget, 6-2, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3. He'd already beaten 16th-seeded David Wheaton and won a rousing 4-hour, 9-minute "battle of champions" over Pat Cash, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-2. But champ-to-be Andre Agassi was too much in the goodbye singles winning as he did 6-4,6-2, 6-3 and laterly claiming the crown. Yet there was more and McEnroe´s fading presence would be stretched triumphantly over two days and Wimbledon's longest closing act on the Monday: his fifth doubles title, this time without old collaborator Peter Fleming, but with a stranger who did just fine: Michael Stich. Two points from defeat in the fourth-set tiebreaker, at darkness, 13-13, the German-American came through over Richey Renbeberg and Jim Grabb, 5-7, 7-6, (7-5), 3-6, 7-6, (7-5), 19-17, a record-length final, timed at five hours and one minute in duration. Eight years had passed since his last title. "It was a great atmosphere [Court 1 was packed with 6,500 Mac fans], a great way to go out," McEnroe said.
Three intense rivalries stand out during his career. He had the edge on Connors (31-20), but not Ivan Lendl (15-21) and was even with Borg (7-7). Except for the French Open lapse against Lendl, he was virtually unbeatable in 1984, winning 13 of 15 singles tournaments on an 82-3 record. Other big seasons were 1979 when he won ten titles on a 94-12 win-loss record and 1980 winning 10 titles on 88-18 win-loss. In 1979 he set an open-era record with 27 overall tournament victories, 17 in doubles, winning a record total of 177 matches. He won the season-climaxing Masters singles thrice, 1978, 1983 and 1984, and is the all-time overall professional leader with 154 tournament victories: a 77-77 singles-doubles split. His is third in singles titles behind Connor's 109 and Lendl's 92, second in doubles behind Tom Okker's 78. He finished with a career singles match record of 849-184. For ten years he was ranked in the world´s top ten, and 16 in the U.S. rankings, becoming number one there seven times, and retiring from the sport with a world ranking of 20. In the early stages of his career he was counselled by Harry Hopman. His brother Patrick McEnroe, younger than him by seven years followed him as a standout professional winning the French doubles, with Jim Grabb, in 1989. In 1991 they met in the Chicago final, the second such clash of brothers (Emilio Sanchez defeated Javier Sanchez, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, in the 1987 Madrid final). John won 3-6, 6-2, 6-4. John's prize money for 15 years as a pro was $12,539,827 He has three children by ex-wife Tatum O'Neal. Having retired from Lawn Tennis John McEnroe has since opened up an art gallery in New York, worked for television braodcasters in his role as commentator all over the world and is seen as an ambassador for the game. Rejected by many assocations and country for his attitude in the early days of his career his services are very much in demand.
The 'Super Brat' has now become a stalwart of the Seniors tennis tour and reached the semi-finals of the mixed competition with Steffi Graf in 1999. Before the German annoyed McEnroe by withdrawing, following a slight injury that could have affected her chance in her last major Wimbledon final, before she retired. Grand Slam Record French Open Singles finalist 1984; Mixed doubles 1977 Wimbledon Singles 1981, 1983, 1984; Singles finalist 1980, 1982; Doubles 1979, 1981, 1983-1984, 1992; Mixed semi-finalist 1999 U.S. Open Singles 1979, 1980-1981, 1984; Singles finalist 1985; Doubles 1979, 1981, 1983, 1989 Tournament Record (inc. Davis Cup and Olympics) United States Davis Cup Team member
1978-1984, 1987-1989, 1991-1992; winning side 1978-1979, 1981-1982, 1992;
losing side 1984
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