John McEnroe

One of most successful tennis players of all times, John McEnroe was a dominant force whose reputation was built just as much on his personality as it was on his fantastic finesse play on the court. Though he was not overpowering physically, his temper and attitude made up for any lack of physical strength. Often verbally abusive of ball boys, line judges, chair judges—and just about anyone else who came in his line of sight during a match—the McEnroe way of playing was something to see. His style brought more people to their television sets to watch tennis, and more often than not, in addition to watching the McEnroe outbursts, they witnessed a McEnroe victory.

During his professional career, McEnroe won 17 Grand Slam titles, 77 career singles titles and 77 doubles titles. He has also been a mainstay of United States Davis Cup play, holding the American Davis Cup records for most wins, ties played, years played and singles wins (41). He retired from the professional tour in 1992 with a singles record of 856 wins, 158 losses and 75 titles. John McEnroe is still visible as one of the mainstays on the Seniors Tour, as well as in the tennis broadcast booth.