Following his retirement from the sport, John McEnroe has stayed around tennis, enjoying several different ventures, largely in punditry and commentary.
The American legend has spent the majority of his time post-playing days providing analysis on TV and radio, but in 2016, he decided to embark on his first coaching role.
McEnroe joined Milos Raonic’s team in May that year, uniting with the Canadian’s primary coaches Carlos Moya and Riccardo Piatti.
After Raonic reached his first Grand Slam final at Wimbledon, the seven-time major champion decided to leave the role, citing media commitments getting in the way during the championships.
Though the former world number three remains the only star McEnroe has worked with, he was once close to taking another ATP player under his wing.
John McEnroe names the player he wanted to coach years ago
Featuring on an episode of ‘Nothing Major’, the 66-year-old said: “I used to want to coach way back when. And there was a thought of coaching Denis [Shapovalov].
“People would always ask me who is the player today who is maybe sort of somewhat similar to what you brought to the table.
“Nobody is serving and volleying any more. But he had a lot of lefty firepower. His old agent was an old, old friend of mine. I had known him for 30 or 40 years.
“He was like ‘you have got to coach him’, and I was like ‘this might be interesting’. But the Mom might have gotten in the way, I don’t know, maybe Denis didn’t want to.
“I thought there was something that could have worked, but now it’s seven or eight years later, and Denis is not really in the mix.
“He has made the quarters or semis here. I know he had a knee problem, but he is still like a chicken with his head cut off.”
Denis Shapovalov’s results on the ATP Tour in recent years
Since turning professional in 2017, Denis Shapovalov has secured four ATP titles, with a career-high ranking of 10th in the world, which he achieved in 2020.
At Grand Slams, he had his best spell from 2020 to 2022, when he reached quarterfinals at the Australian Open and the US Open, as well as featuring in the semifinals at Wimbledon.
Shapovalov has struggled at big events in recent years, however, failing to make it to the last eight at any Masters 1000 competition or major from 2023 to 2025.
He has added two more crowns to his name this season, though, emerging victorious in Los Cabos and Dallas.
Still just 26 years of age, Shapovalov has plenty of time to live up to the potential McEnroe once saw in him.
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
