Comments

  • "If you lined up all 300 boys in his approximate age group… and asked us to place them in the order of who was most likely to succeed as an international athlete, John would have come in at 299."
    –Dr Robin Lester Headmaster, Trinity School, 1972

  • "If you play John, you must play your best. He doesn’t have any weaknesses."
    –Bjorn Borg

  • "He is a young man who raised perfectly placed strokes to a high art form, only to resort to tantrums that smear his masterpieces like graffiti."
    -Pete Axthelm, Newsweek

  • "Against Connors and Borg, you feel like you are being hit with a sledgehammer, but McEnroe is a stiletto."
    -Curry Kirkpatrick, Sports Illustrated

  • "He’s the only player in the history of the game to go berserk and play better tennis."
    -George Plimpton, Esquire

  • "McEnroe’s seven Grand Slam titles amount to half of what he could have won had he bothered to train properly and gain control of his temper."
    -Sally Jenkins, Sports Illustrated

  • "John can change his tactics and style to adjust to his opponent’s strategy and to the court surface. He has tremendous hand–eye coordination, and he’s quick, with tremendous footwork. Playing soccer probably helped him a lot. What puts it all together is his timing. That’s something you’re born with, but McEnroe has sharpened his through practise."
    -Arthur Ashe

  • "His serve is not the hardest, but he can change speed and angle. He also has the advantage of being left-handed, which causes his spin serves to break in the opposite direction from right-handers and confuse them."
    -Arthur Ashe

  • "John sets high standards for himself and doesn’t suffer fools gladly. What you might say about John is that he shoots from the hip through his mouth."

    • -John Patrick McEnroe, his father

    • "McEnroe does most of his putting on the courts. In private, this devastating athlete can be a nice enough kid… but when he steps to the service line, with his perpetually put-upon expression and his insistence that every line call and crowd reaction go his way, his public posture is all to easy to understand. Call it spoiled."
      -Pete Axthelm, Newsweek

    • "When I see McEnroe, I see ‘bad sport’. I wouldn’t want him identified with my product."
      -President of Madison Avenue Ad Agency

    • "McEnroe saw the court in different geometric dimensions than anyone else. On any given volley, the rest of us might choose between two or three shots.

    But somehow Mac would see all these possibilities that never occurred to anyone else before."
    -Eric Riley, Tennis Coach

  • "Considering that he was the bad boy of tennis, it’s incomprehensible that he’s now as popular as he is. But he’s such a bright guy, he can do anything he wants to do."
    -Bud Collins, Tennis Commentator

  • "It’s incredible how talented one person can be. The gift that he has beyond tennis is special to see."
    -Gary Swain, McEnroe’s personal representative
    Vice President, International Management Group

  • "He’s a credit to the game with what he’s done since he stopped playing. It’s deserving how popular he is because he’s kept the game in the public eye."
    -Mel Purcell, Former Tennis Player