He is also well known for his on court behavior that got him in trouble with tennis authorities and umpires. Chiudo con una frase che descrive sia l’uomo che il giocatore, una frase che dovrebbe essere di ispirazione per tutti: “Sono uno che gioca a rete: il mio stile era, ed è ancora, basato sull’andare avanti, sempre avanti, e poi sferrare il colpo vincente”.

This is still a really enjoyable read and it is particularly amusing when McEnroe talks about how he gets on with 1 or 2 of his old rivals from tennis these days, especially Lendl and Connors. But in the heat of the moment, my normally soft hands pushed my first volley a fraction beyond the baseline.

John McEnroe today is probably better known for his TV tennis commentary, a job which he is fantastic at. After the brick wall of the junior high in grade school and against my brother in the street, I got bit by the tennis bug early on. In the excerpt below, McEnroe replays his 1984 French Open match against Ivan Lendl, which would prove to be one of his worst days on court, in no small part due to his behavior and how it soured the crowd.

Those days of (radio) commentary, of Richie Benaud and John Arlott, painting their subtle and carefully considered pictures, are a million miles away from Mr. A pretty frank and illuminating portrayal of the life and times of one of the greatest and dare I say most infamous professional tennis players in the Open era. Legendary tennis star and expert commentator John McEnroe's long-awaited follow-up to the Sunday Times and international bestseller Serious. Then again, very few successful sports stars have ever matched the emotional investment that McEnroe puts into his tennis. As I grew up during this era of tennis, I watched him emerge and finally play and win at Wimbledon (on TV) for many years, his story now retold in his own voice was of a lot of interest to me.If this type of book appeals to a reader, then he or she should certainly pick this up and it isn’t necessary to have read McEnroe’s first memoir. My grandma and I used to watch him play tennis together and she would always yell at the TV, “give him hell McEnroe! I’ve found the best way to handle him is to let him rant until he’s exhausted and then just carry on doing what I was planning to do anyway. Once I started on the seniors circuit, there was a long period where Ivan was kept off the court because of a clause in an insurance policy that looked like it would stop him from ever playing again.