If you are in love with tennis and the history of this sport, you will hardly find unpublished moments in this documentary (some images, yes, were provided by the protagonist from his private archives). However, you will come away knowing John McEnroe a little better because he himself, as an adult, tells his story and, as Francesco De Gregori sings, «certain corners of the present will become curves in the memory». The rough edges of one of the most successful tennis players of all time, the broken rackets, the impulsiveness, open up in the mature voice of a man who lived tennis to the fullest without forgetting to live the rest of his life.
In the McEnroe documentary, exclusively on Sky Documentaries Saturday 18 May at 9.15pm, streaming only on NOW and also available on demand, the champion tells his story, in the darkness of an evening in New York, almost to put a distance between himself and the tennis court, the crowd, the spotlights and the press, describing himself with objectivity and sincerity, as a man . John McEnroe returns to relive the feelings of the years in which he faced Jimmy Connors, Ilie Nastase, Ivan Lendl and above all Bjorn Borg.
The young champion would have wanted the certainty of feeling loved by his father, his manager, even if he hadn't won every match; the more he advanced in the world rankings the more his frustration grew, leading him to self-destructive behavior, both on the pitch and in his private life. In the documentary, childhood memories emerge with attentive but not very affectionate parents, the desire to discover oneself, the love for music (rock) and art, but also the lack of empathy, the inability to respect the rules and finally the friendships born on the field with Vitas Gerulaitis and Bjorn Borg, fundamental for a boy left alone with his talent.
Right at the beginning of the documentary McEnroe says that “tennis is a microcosm of life” and at the end we realize that now John McEnroe has understood that it is life that counts, the family, the children from his first marriage to Tatum O'Neal and with his current partner, singer Patty Smith, who gave him security and stability. And yes John McEnroe's job is still tennis, as a commentator, with the detachment that makes you smile when they remind you of a tournament you lost.
Source: Vanity Fair
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