If the public was polled to determine which man has been the most arresting tennis player during the Open Era, there would be four chief candidates who fit that bill: Andre Agassi, Roger Federer, Jimmy Connors and a New Yorker with a dynamic personality, a distinctive playing style and a flinty integrity that made him a one-of-a-kind champion. John McEnroe was the most evocative performer ever to step out onto the court at the US Open, and he may have left the most lasting impressions among the fans. His influence was far-reaching. His genius and volatility were always on display. His drive to be the best that he could be made him compelling to a degree no other player could match.
McEnroe’s US Open career covered a wide span. His first appearance in the main draw came in 1977, when he was only 18. Having reached the semifinals of Wimbledon that season on grass, he did well on the clay at Forest Hills, getting to the round of 16 with a win over clay expert Eddie Dibbs. He lost in the round of 16, against 1975 champion Manuel Orantes.
A year later, when the tournament moved to Flushing Meadows and shifted to hard courts, McEnroe made a move of his own. He got to the semifinals and lost to Jimmy Connors. Between 1979 and 1984, McEnroe was the keynote performer at the Open, winning four titles during that dazzling stretch. And then he reached his last final, in 1985, falling against a top-of-the-line Ivan Lendl. At the end of that season, McEnroe chose to take a six-month hiatus from the game, and was never the same player again. Over the last four years of the eighties, he did not make it past the quarterfinals. In 1990, he surged into the semifinals, but was soundly beaten in four sets by Pete Sampras.
McEnroe was beaten in a gripping five-setter by Michael Chang in the third round of the 1991 Open, and then he played his last Open in 1992. In the third round of that tournament, McEnroe defeated 6’5” Australian Richard Fromberg in straight sets. McEnroe had been in the Wimbledon singles semifinals, and won the doubles with Michael Stich at the All England Club as well, but he was 33 now and no longer the player he once was. Falling decisively against Jim Courier in the round of 16, McEnroe decided to call it a career after 16 consecutive US Open singles appearances.
After his setback against Courier, McEnroe was not defensive in the least when asked if he might retire. He said, “Andre beat up on me pretty good at Wimbledon and Jim beat me pretty good here. It is really not that tough a decision. I have nothing to be ashamed about. I did the best I could. I feel like I am very happy with my career. It is just one of those things. You got to decide sooner or later. That is just the way it is.”
True to himself as he was all along in his career, McEnroe recognized that he was not going to be a serious force any longer, although he helped the U.S. win the Davis Cup at the end of that year by winning a doubles match alongside Sampras. But he dealt with the issue of retirement forthrightly when he spoke with the press after losing to Courier at the US Open. Losing in the round of 16 to Courier—who was No. 1 in the world at the time—was understandable and revealing. For three Opens in a row, the young Americans had upended McEnroe: First Sampras, then Chang and finally Courier had sent him out of the tournament. So he realized the signs were strikingly evident that the younger generation was taking over and it was time for him to stop competing in singles.
But not before he had turned the world of tennis upside down in many ways, and turned himself into a singularly captivating US Open competitor who wore his emotions on his sleeve and treated tennis as not just a sport but, rather, a way of life.
