Review of 'Serious' by John McEnroe

John McEnroe was a great tennis player of both singles and doubles. He won 77 career singles titles, including 7 Grand Slams. He also won 77 doubles titles. He joined the tour in 1978 and it took him only three years to attain the No.1 ranking. In this autobiography he talks about his career, his marriage and what's next.

Billie Jean King certainly conveys her love for the game in this book, calling herself a tennis junkie. She is honest and follows the advice of Dr. Maxwell Maltz, a plastic surgeon. He recommends what is called psycho-cybernetics. It is about living in the moment and having positive thoughts. Billie Jean talks of how tennis can help people mature and how tennis, being one of the only one on one sports where you can be in such a spotlight, the best and worst can come out of you on court. She gives advise as to how to deal with that.

Billie Jean King talks of herself and other players, and many players are quoted in their praise of her. Chris Evert said," I admire Billie Jean for the battles she fought for women's tennis. She helped to pave the way for me and other women tennis players. I also admire her personally for her guts and determination on the tennis court. She has an incomparable passion for the game".

I admired Billie Jean for her contributions to the women's movement in general. I wasn't such a tennis tragic as I am now when she was playing, so I didn't see her play. But everyone knew about her match with Bobby Riggs. She felt she had to take up his challenge or the cause of women's tennis would be set back 50 years.

This "Battle of the Sexes" captured the imagination of the world, not just tennis enthusiasts. It was played on Sept. 20, 1973 in Houston. Billie Jean King, then 29, ran Bobby Riggs ragged, winning 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in a match the London Sunday Times called "the drop shot and volley heard around the world."

She also writes about practice, fitness, exercise, health and diet. She often had to watch her weight. She writes also about the problems and solutions involved with wearing glasses.

This is a great book with many great tips for the tennis player.

Billie Jean King won six Wimbledon singles championships and four U.S. Open titles. She was ranked No. 1 in the world five years. She defeated such magnificent players as Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert and Margaret Court.

Other books by McEnroe or about him

Bad News for McEnroe : Blood, Sweat, and Backhands with John, Jimmy, Ilie, Ivan, Bjorn, and Vitas
On Being John McEnroe
You Cannot Be Serious
McEnroe: Taming the Talent
John McEnroe (Sports star)
Mac Enroe, est-il génial?: Réflexions techniques, jouer simple pour jouer juste
Please Play On: a Biography of John McEnroe
McEnroe: A Rage for Perfection

All time male winners of US Open

1881 Richard Sears
1882 Richard Sears
1883 Richard Sears
1884 Richard Sears
1885 Richard Sears
1886 Richard Sears
1887 Richard Sears
1888 Henry Slocum
1889 Henry Slocum
1890 Oliver Campbell
1891 Oliver Campbell
1892 Oliver Campbell
1893 Robert Wrenn
1894 Robert Wrenn
1895 Fred Hovey
1896 Robert Wrenn
1897 Robert Wrenn
1898 Malcolm Whitman
1899 Malcolm Whitman
1900 Malcolm Whitman
1901 William Larned
1902 William Larned
1903 Hugh Doherty
1904 Holcombe Ward
1905 Beals C. Wright
1906 William Larned
1907 William Larned
1908 William Larned
1909 William Larned
1910 William Larned
1911 William Larned
1912 Maurice McLoughlin
1913 Maurice McLoughlin
1914 Richard Williams
1915 William Johnston
1916 Richard Williams
1918 Lindley Murray
1919 William Johnston
1920 Bill Tilden
1921 Bill Tilden
1922 Bill Tilden
1923 Bill Tilden
1924 Bill Tilden
1925 Bill Tilden
1926 René Lacoste
1927 René Lacoste
1928 Henri Cochet
1929 Bill Tilden
1930 John Doeg
1931 Ellsworth Vines
1932 Ellsworth Vines
1933 Fred Perry
1934 Fred Perry
1935 Wilmer Allison
1936 Fred Perry
1937 Don Budge
1938 Don Budge
1939 Bobby Riggs
1940 Donald McNeill
1941 Bobby Riggs
1942 Ted Schroeder
1943 Lt. Joseph R. Hunt
1944 Frank Parker
1946 Jack Kramer
1947 Jack Kramer
1948 Pancho Gonzales
1949 Pancho Gonzales
1951 Frank Sedgman
1952 Frank Sedgman
1953 Tony Trabert
1954 Vic Seixas
1955 Tony Trabert
1956 Ken Rosewall
1957 Malcolm Anderson
1958 Ashley Cooper
1959 Neale Fraser
1960 Neale Fraser
1961 Roy Emerson
1962 Rod Laver
1963 Rafael Osuna
1964 Roy Emerson
1965 Manuel Santana
1966 Fred Stolle
1967 John Newcombe
1968 Arthur Ashe
1969 Rod Laver
1970 Ken Rosewall
1971 Stan Smith
1972 Ilie Nastase
1973 John Newcombe
1974 Jimmy Connors
1975 Manuel Orantes
1976 Jimmy Connors
1977 Guillermo Vilas
1978 Jimmy Connors
1979 John McEnroe
1980 John McEnroe
1981 John McEnroe
1982 Jimmy Connors
1983 Jimmy Connors
1984 John McEnroe
1985 Ivan Lendl
1986 Ivan Lendl
1987 Ivan Lendl
1988 Mats Wilander
1989 Boris Becker
1990 Pete Sampras
1991 Stefan Edberg
1992 Stefan Edberg
1993 Pete Sampras
1995 Pete Sampras
1996 Pete Sampras
1997 Patrick Rafter
1998 Patrick Rafter
2000 Marat Safin
2001 Lleyton Hewitt
2002 Pete Sampras
2003 Andy Roddick
2004 Roger Federer
2005 Roger Federer
2006 Roger Federer
2007 Roger Federer
2008 Roger Federer
2009 Juan Martin del Potro
2010 Rafael Nadal
2011 Novak Djokovic
2012 Andrew Murray

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McEnroe vs Borg

How strange that after all those years of rivalry it was just a week or so ago as of 31 Mar 2005 that Borg put his trophies and racquets up for sale and it was McEnroe who talked him out of selling them. Perhaps it isn’t that strange though, because despite their highly different personalities and styles of play, they really respected each other when it came to playing tennis. Both of them were great tennis players and their rivalry was such that not even McEnroe lost his temper when playing Borg because he knew he needed all his energy to beat him.
McEnroe

John McEnroe was born in in 1959 and was a brilliant junior tennis player like Borg had been, but McEnroe attended Standford for a short time before he went on tour full-time. He won the French Open mixed doubles at age 18 in 1977 and then went into the junior and senior US Open events of that year. He never played in the junior event because he reached the semi-finals of the senior event. That was when John McEnroe started to become hot news.



McEnroe went on to win 3 Wimbledons and 4 US opens. He never won the Australian or the French. He played many Davis Cups and a lot of doubles though. He played 2 of the longest Davis Cup games on record in 1982 and 1987. He won 77 singles titles and 77 doubles titles, but as of 2006 we hear that he will play senior doubles again, having seen Martina Hingis and Martina Navratilova come out of retirement to win a few events, I’m guessing.
Borg

Borg was born in in 1956. He won 62 singles titles. He won 6 French Opens and 5 Wimbledons. He didn’t venture down to much but I did see an exhibition match between Borg and McEnroe in 1981 at Kooyong and strangely enough it was during this match that he confided in both McEnroe and Gerulaitus that he was retiring. Borg retired at the ripe old age of 25, so he had accomplished much in that time.



The biggest match Borg and McEnroe played was the Wimbledon Singles final of 1980. Many commentators say that this was the greatest match ever played. So what makes it so special? I think a match up has to include not only brilliant tennis minds and players with high degrees of skill but also with very different styles. These days slug fests from the back of the court are not very interesting, in my view. Also 2 serve volleyers with great fast and accurate serves can make a match a bit dull. But this was the match up of serve volley (McEnroe) and baseline two-handed backhands (Borg). It was also the cool, very fit and athletic Swede against the hot-headed New Yorker who had the strangest but most effective serve and great eye-hand coordination to make him a great volleyer from the net. Borg was also every girls dream while McEnroe was a bit gauche then.



This match was also between a man attempting to extend 4 consecutive Wimbledon titles to 5 (Borg) and another who was attempting to win his first (McEnroe). In 1979-80 Borg had been number one and McEnroe had taken top spot for about 3 weeks. This match would decide the number one spot. They had played 7 times but never in a grand slam.



Borg won the match but it was very close, taking the spectators to highs and lows as all good sport should do. It went to 5 sets. The first Borg lost 1-6. He then won the second and third and should have won the 4th except for a thrilling tie-breaker which McEnroe won. This tie-breaker was outstanding. McEnroe held 5 set points and Borg held 5 championship points. Borg went on to win the 5th.



During their careers, they met 14 times and each won 7 each. That Wimbledon had been Borg’s finest win but McEnroe did go on being younger and playing for longer, to win many more grand slams. McEnroe always admired Borg. He said he was the finest athlete he had ever seen on a tennis court and Borg always found McEnroe’s left handed serve extremely hard to return.



McEnroe continued in the serve volley mode which made him such a great doubles player, but Borg revolutionized tennis in that the two-hander and the baseline play is now the norm. More’s the pity in my view as the “Australian” style is more to my liking, but ’s top player plays the Borg way. He’s not as good, but the kids of Borg’s time took on his style.



McEnroe is still around the tennis world being active in many of its institutions and in being a commentator. He really lights up the court when he goes on to interview players at the end of a match and I love his knowledge as a commentator. Borg however left the tennis scene at the age of 25 going on to 3 marriages, scandals and many business ventures. McEnroe also had marriage troubles and invited Borg to his second marriage. The difference now is that you get the feeling that McEnroe loved the whole tennis scene and history of the game much more than the self-contained Borg ever did.