John McEnroe is one of those players to whom young tennis aspirants look up to. When Martina Navratilova and Chris Evert held the WTA’s camp. The American alongside Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi maintained men’s tennis standards.

However, apart from the in-match injuries and miseries, McEnroe had to face some additional hardships during his career. One of which was the mental conflict of whether or not to prioritize his child over tennis.

John McEnroe about falling out from the race

The seven-time Grand slam champion decided to settle down with Tatum O’Neal and tied the knot in the year 1986. A year after, the couple welcomed their first son. Though his arrival brought tremendous happiness, it also made McEnroe weigh the importance of his profession. In a recent interview, he said, “It should be everyone’s biggest goal to be a good parent. Even when I was 27, I had my first son. I felt like: Did I still want to be the best player in the world?”

Thereafter he spoke about how he couldn’t execute his comeback as flawlessly as the 22 times Grand Slam champion Rafael Nadal. He said, “Rafael Nadal just took six months off and won the Australian Open. I took six months off and laid an egg as I lost first round at the US Open. It was the only year I lost first round.” 

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“I wasn’t even ready to come back. But having said that, you know, I had two kids. What am I supposed to be like? ‘Oh, okay, take care of the kids. I gotta go deal with this situation here with the rankings?’ No, no, I was trying to do both to the best of my ability. But the first priority to me should be my kids.” He added.

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Speaking of the Spaniard, he had to take a back seat and miss tournaments after the French Open because of the resurfacing of his pestering foot injury. He kept out of the circuit for months. In fact, Nadal also missed the chance to defend his title on the hard courts of the US Open. Even so, when he made a comeback, his form remained unaffected as he thrashed the US Open reigning champion, Daniil Medvedev, in the very first major of this year.

McEnroe’s marriage

He married the academy award winner Tatum O’Neal and brought himself under the radar of the media. So much so that the paparazzi covered their wedding through helicopters. Following that, his tournaments started receiving excessive attention, drowning him in the pressure of performing well.

Watch this story: Serena Williams once thanked fellow ‘clown’ Novak Djokovic for reinstating an old Wimbledon tradition

Also, the family of former world no.1 had new additions, Kevin, Sean, and Emily, who required attention. And McEnroe couldn’t bounce back, and 1984 became his last glorious year. He claimed his fourth US Open and third Wimbledon trophy that season.