About two summers ago, I went down the YouTube rabbit hole and watched a bunch of tennis videos. Now, to be clear, I am not a tennis player. It started innocently enough – I clicked onto one clip and the next thing I knew, the platform only recommended more and more. Recently, a few of these videos started to surprisingly pop up again.
On a whim, I decided to click onto this interview featuring John McEnroe. The truth is, I love podcasts and I love hearing people’s stories, so while I wasn’t necessarily interested in the tennis player, I became curious to learn about the man. I’m glad I gave it a watch because sure enough, there were some pretty interesting tidbits, which I think are applicable to many different facets of life.
For starters, McEnroe talked about how when he was ranked number 21 in the world for tennis, he decided to go to Stanford. He explained that he wanted his life to be about more than just the sport at the time, and he was eager to explore other parts of himself. He quickly learned at Stanford that being number 21 in the world meant that he had a lot of challengers. While people weren’t necessarily overly impressed with him – much to his dismay especially where women were concerned – they definitely wanted to say that they could beat him. Consequently, he played with everyone who gave him their “best game” and he trained in ways he didn’t anticipate. He also learned before graduating that tennis was very much something he wanted to pursue after all, so he left school to return to the courts. On a personal note, the lessons here are especially interesting for me. I was recently discussing with a friend that I sometimes struggle with wanting to pursue other professional opportunities because I don’t want to lose my place at work. I’ve been fortunate enough to learn that my superiors are supportive of my advancement and I don’t want to jeopardize that by going anywhere even though I sometimes crave change and new challenge. My friend wisely reminded me that I’m young enough that I have no need to reach some pinnacle right now in my career. It’s perfectly fine for me to jump around a bit and grow before embarking on more senior roles. Based on McEnroe’s example, I can see the wisdom in that advice. You can always take a side-step somewhere to learn new skills and clarify your ultimate path.
McEnroe also talks in this interview extensively about his matches with Björn Borg. He said that playing against Borg made him not just a better player, but a better person. He explained that at the time, he was known for his hot-headed outbursts and had a bit of a bad boy reputation. He chalked a lot of that up to simply being a New Yorker who was ready to stand up for himself at every turn. Nonetheless, the public didn’t necessarily love his behaviour. In fact, as a response to his antics off the court, the All-England Club rejected McEnroe from receiving an honorary club membership after a notable victory at Wimbledon in 1981. It was the first time in over 100 years that a champion didn’t receive an automatic membership! The rationale was that McEnroe—in addition to being a brat while playing—had snubbed them all when he didn’t go to a traditional dinner after his win, so he could spend time with his family, friends, and personal supporters instead. Needless to say, things like this probably just emboldened a certain chip on his shoulder, but to his credit, McEnroe said that Borg helped him cool down a bit and focus more on the game itself despite the chaos around him. Overall, he described Borg as a “perfect gentleman” on the court and in turn, he felt that he evolved, too. This idea of your opponent being someone who can bring out your best is also a great gem. I know I’ve felt at times in my life that competition in the workplace has really helped me elevate myself – especially when it’s done respectfully. I like this idea of growing through being challenged by another, and seeing the good in them even while you’re trying to beat them. Also, there’s something to be witnessed here about public perception versus reality. There’s certainly a lot of footage where McEnroe acted up – but was skipping a dinner to be with family that bad? All he did there was spit in the face of some tradition, but he suffered a major consequence for it. Notably, McEnroe has been quoted as saying “everybody loves success, but they hate successful people”, and maybe he’s spot-on there.
Next, McEnroe shared a tremendous self-awareness in this interview. He talked openly about his inability to ever win big at the French Open. He felt he was good on clay, but somehow he just never prevailed. During the interview, he acknowledges both a frustration with his not performing to the best of his ability, but also an acceptance that with that fact in mind, his global rankings in history would only go down. For me, this was also an intriguing reflection. McEnroe didn’t shame himself for not doing better (even though he wished he had), he sort of had a neutral response, which was nice to see. It’s a reminder that in life, sometimes what seems like a big deal isn’t that big. You can’t maintain the classic “GOAT” status forever and McEnroe seems at peace with that.
Nearing the end of the interview, McEnroe talked about his successful second marriage. Reportedly, after his first marriage, he didn’t think he’d want to go through that again. He explains he fell into his current relationship – not in an unintentional way – but in a way where he wasn’t looking for anything and was just willing to see where it went. He seems to speak very highly of this union, and also speaks just as highly of his father, who he claims was his biggest supporter in life. These more personal notes were lovely for me as a listener. Again, I’m not a tennis fan per se. But I love a good story – and what happens behind the scenes is always fascinating to me. It’s a reminder that we aren’t able to really be who we are in life unless we have good people around us. Sometimes these people can feel like background characters to everyone else, but they’re super important.
Last but not least, McEnroe was asked what makes a great tennis player and he said it comes down to loving what you’re doing, being able to learn from your losses, and digging deeper into your mind and heart. He further said that athletic skill was just a given, but what really counts is all of the inner workings of a human being on the court. Okay, by this point, I was really happy I’d watched this interview. McEnroe was definitely speaking my language. And since there’s more recent footage of him littered all over the internet of him having a laugh at himself, I think it’s safe to say that he seems to be looking further into himself still, which is really beautiful to witness. It was also kind of neat to end on this because my very first introduction to McEnroe was in this video from 2009 where he seems to be a good sport (no pun intended). The smiles and laughter all throughout really showed that if there was anyone around that day that “could not be serious”, it was McEnroe, and that silliness was wonderful. May we all remember to look deep within ourselves and keep a sense of humour both when we rise to the top, and when we fall down a few notches.