Before the era of the ‘Big 3’, it was an era of American tennis legend John McEnroe. The seven-time Grand Slam champion was known for his hot temper and aggressive outbursts which led him to gain the nickname, ‘SuperBrat’. However, this is one thing that McEnroe now looks back upon and wishes to tweak up things a little.

Throwing racquets, shouting and getting into a tussle with fellow players were a common sight in a McEnroe match. However, he knew that he had control over his anger. His anger did not affect his performance. McEnroe would bounce back but one emotion made him feel jittery and like he was losing control.

John McEnroe makes a major career confession

Starting off his career in 1978, McEnroe went on to win seven Grand Slam titles. However, along with an astounding performance on the court, he also added color to the sport with his sentimental gameplay. His on-court outbursts became the talk of the town. However, McEnroe wished he entertained one more emotion a bit more. Humor.

In his ESPN+ show McEnroe’s Places, the American tennis legend stated, “My biggest regret when I was playing is a lot of times when I was thinking something funny that actually would have been funny, I chose the complete opposite, to sort of scream at somebody.” However, that was not the “signature,” said McEnroe.

Fans always saw him riled up in his emotions losing his temper over one thing or another. He added, “The thought would occur to me that I grew with this (mentality), ‘You can’t lose your edge. You’ve got to take them by the throat and put them away,'” according to USA Today.

However, he could not feel the same when a humorous situation would come his way. McEnroe stated, “You can’t sort of have fun and get your concentration back. I was able to do that with anger, but I wasn’t able to do it with humor.” And this is something he wishes he could change in his younger self. He concluded, “I wish I had.”

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McEnroe’s ‘bad boy’ image made him the talk of the town. He flourished on his anger and knew he could get his best game on even after getting riled up. A living witness of this is another veteran tennis star, Michael Chang.

Michael Chang sheds light on the performance of a “riled up” McEnroe

The duo met each other on the court five times in their career. Out of those, McEnroe prevailed in four. However, Chang understood his game.

In an interview with The Pickleball Slam, he stated he knew that if McEnroe lost his temper, he would play his best game. As the duo now found themselves on the same side of a pickleball court, Chang wished to rile up McEnroe so that their victory is assured!

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Who else do you think resembles McEnroe from the present generation of tennis players? Let us know in the comments below!