McEnroe, John

McEnroe, John (Patrick, Jr.)

(1959–  ) tennis player; born in Wiesbaden, Germany (to an American military family). He trained at Port Washington Tennis Academy (New York) and at age 18 became the youngest man to reach the Wimbledon finals (1977). He won four U.S. Open singles titles (1979–81, 1984) and three Wimbledon singles titles (1981, 1983–84) and was an invaluable member of the American Davis Cup team (1978–85). His skill as a player was often overshadowed by his fierce emotional outbursts on court and his frequent wrangling with umpires, which always attracted the attention of the media and led to professional censure and fines on several occasions.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.