John McEnroe
Desert Island Discs
BBC
4.3 • 14.3K Ratings
🗓️ 16 July 2017
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Kirsty Young's castaway is the tennis player and commentator, John McEnroe. He won three singles and five doubles Wimbledon titles, four singles and four doubles at the US Open and was ranked number one in the world for four consecutive years in the 1980s.
John McEnroe grew up in New York and didn't pick up a tennis racquet until the age of eight, but his talent was quickly spotted and he began to compete in junior tournaments. In 1977, aged 18 and between high school and university, he qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon and reached the semi-finals where he lost to Jimmy Connors. By the end of the tournament his on-court behaviour - shouting, haranguing umpires and abusing his racquet - earned him the nickname 'Superbrat'.
He made his first Wimbledon final against Bjorn Borg in 1980. In one of the finest matches in history, despite winning a tiebreak 18-16 to win the fourth set, he lost the match. He beat Borg the following year to win his first Wimbledon singles title. 1984 was the best year in John's career: he won 82 out of 85 matches he played, but it was also the year when he was beaten at the French Open by Ivan Lendl, who replaced him as number one.
John married the actress Tatum O'Neal in 1986. They divorced in the mid-1990s and he has been married to the singer Patty Smyth since 1997. Since retiring in 1992, in addition to his role as tennis commentator, he has been a coach and runs his own tennis academy. He still plays in tennis tournaments.
Producer: Cathy Drysdale.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is the BBC. |
| 0:04.0 | Hello, I'm Kirstie Young. |
| 0:06.0 | Thank you for downloading this podcast of Desert Island discs from BBC Radio 4. |
| 0:10.0 | For rights reasons, the music choices are shorter than in the Radio broadcast. |
| 0:14.0 | For more information about the program, please visit bbc.co.uk- Radio 4. |
| 0:30.0 | Music |
| 0:42.0 | My custom week is the tennis player John McEnroe. |
| 0:46.0 | The sporting world isn't short on hyperbole, but in his case, the word legendary fits. |
| 0:51.0 | At a time when our tennis champs often come wrapped in the suffocating packaging of marketing endorsements and image spin, |
| 0:57.0 | his character playing or passing comment has always brought a welcome spritz of tangy reality. |
| 1:03.0 | He blazed onto the circuit in the late 70s, a rassable, petulant and utterly brilliant. |
| 1:08.0 | A grand slam champion many times over, he spent four consecutive years ranked world number one. |
| 1:14.0 | These days he's not only got a better haircut but is matured into a rye, witty and wise commentator on the sport that has so dominated his life. |
| 1:24.0 | He says there was always a devil inside me, whom I had to fight and the devil was fear of failure. |
| 1:30.0 | So welcome John McEnroe. |
| 1:33.0 | 156 tournament titles in all, seven grand slam singles titles, nine grand slam doubles titles. |
| 1:39.0 | You spent a total of 170 weeks ranked world number one and I wonder, are you over the fear of failure now? |
| 1:47.0 | I don't think anyone ever gets over that fear but it's been a wild ride. |
| 1:52.0 | I mean, 40 years ago was my first time here in London and I can't believe that I'm sitting here talking about music. |
| 1:58.0 | So this is awesome. |
| 2:00.0 | You said that you've been coming to the UK now for 40 years and I know from stuff you've said, your relationship with the UK has not always been the easiest. |
| 2:08.0 | Do you enjoy it here now? |
... |
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