John McEnroe enjoyed a legendary tennis career, lifting seven Grand Slam titles as a professional.
The controversial American ATP star entertained fans for years as he competed with the very best in men’s tennis.
McEnroe held the number-one ranking for a mightily impressive 170 weeks, and remains one of just two players, alongside Stefan Edberg to have held the ranking in both singles and doubles.
He won his seven Major titles across two tournaments, Wimbledon and the US Open, as he took down some of his greatest rivals in several classic Grand Slam finals.
Six times, McEnroe faced either Bjorn Borg or Jimmy Connors with a Major title on the line, coming out victorious on four occasions.
At the Australian and French Open tournaments, McEnroe appeared in just one final, narrowly falling to defeat in 1984, a loss he later described as the ‘most disappointing’ of his tennis career.
John McEnroe said defeat to Ivan Lendl in the 1984 French Open final was his ‘most disappointing’ ever
McEnroe took the trip to Paris 41 years ago, searching for success at a tournament he had struggled at over the years.
He had lost at the quarter-final stage twice, in 1981 and 1983, as he never quite fulfilled his clay-court potential.
The American looked to be in scintillating form in 1984, however, as he advanced to the final dropping just one set.
| Round | Opponent | Score |
| SF | Jimmy Connors [3] | 7-5, 6-1, 6-2 |
| QF | Jimmy Arias [5] | 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 |
| 4R | Jose Higueras [12] | 6-4, 7-6, 3-6, 6-3 |
| 3R | Mel Purcell | 6-4, 6-4, 6-1 |
| 2R | Ben Testerman | 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 |
| 1R | Horacio de la Pena | 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 |
In the final, he faced off against Czech star Ivan Lendl, who he had beaten in their previous five meetings.
Speaking on the Undeniable Show in 2018, McEnroe reflected on the 1984 French Open final, where he led by two sets to love.
“That would be called in sports terms, choking,” he said.
“It was extremely hot, I started to get irritable for no good reason but I still had him by the you know what.
“I started tightening up and then I lost the third set, which I probably should’ve won anyway.
“Then I got up in the fourth set, I was up a break, so I was five points away from winning, but then I managed to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.”
McEnroe lost in five sets to Lendl, 6-3, 6-2, 4-6, 5-7, 5-7, a defeat he described as the ‘most disappointing’ of his professional career.
“It’s by far the most disappointing loss of my career,” he said.
“I actually believed that I could play on that surface, and as a kid growing up I knew how to play on it, and it wasn’t that big of a tournament when I first started playing on the Pro Tour.
“Now everything is magnified with the Grand Slams, they’ve become bigger, the other tournaments are sort of also rans.
“But I wasn’t taking it [French Open] that seriously, until I realized that if you want to be the great of the greats, the greatest, you’ve got to win there.”
McEnroe then explained how defeat in 1984 damaged his chances of being compared with the greatest tennis players of all time.
“So, the fact that I didn’t win it has unfortunately made me well, fortunately it’s made me more humble, unfortunately my ranking in terms of all time greats is dropping,” he said.
“It’s going in the wrong direction.”
Did John McEnroe ever come close to winning the French Open again after 1984?
McEnroe returned to Roland Garros with a vengeance in 1985, having suffered a heart-breaking defeat in the final one year earlier.
The American made his way through to the semi-finals with several impressive victories, although he was unable to repeat his 1984 success, this time losing in the last four.
- 1985 French Open SF – Lost to Mats Wilander, 1-6, 5-7, 5-7
- 1985 French Open QF – Beat Joakim Nystrom, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5
- 1985 Frech Open 4R – Beat Henrik Sundstrom, 6-3, 7-5, 6-2
- 1985 French Open 3R – Beat Marcos Hocevar, 6-2, 6-1, 6-2
- 1985 French Open 2R – Beat Florin Segarceanu, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4
- 1985 French Open 1R – Beat Ronald Agenor, 6-0, 6-2, 7-5
McEnroe lost to Swedish star Mats Wilander in straight sets, as he failed to reach the final of the French Open.
He only won three more matches at the tournament during his next four visits to the French capital, retiring from tennis without a Roland Garros title to his name.
Despite his best efforts, McEnroe never came closer to lifting the trophy on Court Philippe Chatrier, than he did in 1984, where he was just five points away from victory.
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