John McEnroe carved out a legendary career on the ATP Tour from 1978 to 1994.
The American secured 77 tour-level singles titles during his playing days, seven of which were clinched at Grand Slams.
McEnroe emerged victorious at his home major, the US Open, four times, and won the Wimbledon championships on three separate occasions.
While he may not be considered by many as the greatest player of all time, he is arguably the most compelling character to ever grace a tennis court.
Whether it was from his shouting matches with umpires or on-court meltdowns, McEnroe drew fans into the sport with his unfiltered attitude.
In 2015, he suggested that very draw power was not as prevalent on the tour compared to his era, and argued that tennis would be much more exciting if players would trash-talk with each other.
John McEnroe’s suggestion to get players trash-talking in 2015
As per the Guardian that year, McEnroe said: “If you really want to get it more exciting: no linesmen. And have the players call their lines.
“That would make the game more exciting, I promise you. It would be awesome. You would have more of what we liked in the past.
“It was fun when guys were trash-talking each other and yelling at each other, me and Connors, or whatever. You’d start getting more of that.
“You’d also have the challenge, the replay system. It’s not as if it’s not there. And you’d have an umpire who could settle some type of dispute if necessary.
If you could change one rule in tennis what would it be and why?
“The players need to be able to feel they can express themselves. In other sports, you’re protected more.
“I’m sure on the soccer pitch, they’re not saying: ‘Hello, how are you?’ Or on the rugby field. We have it in America with sports.
“They are out there yelling at each other [as he mimes effing and blinding] and you know they’re not saying, ‘Hello, how are you?’ Yet you don’t really hear it. Is it really different in tennis?
“Should it be treated differently? Do the mics have to be there as high as they are? We hear this virtually every match, ‘We’d like to apologise for Mr Murray’s comments, he may have said something.’
“I got fined. They would go back and listen to my matches and two days later I’d be fined. Because no one heard it while it was being played, but they heard it on some mic behind the court. Is that the way it should be? I don’t think so.”
John McEnroe said that the warmup in tennis is ‘boring’
Before every match on the ATP Tour, players warm up on court with each other, which McEnroe said was ‘boring’.
He explained: “I would do it more like boxing. I don’t think they need to hit balls before they play. They are so finely tuned, and I think it would be more interesting.
Who would be on your Mount Rushmore of tennis players?
“They should play through lets on serve. I know it would add an element of unpredictability, which, by the way, would be good. It would speed up the match and be one less thing to worry about.
“I would put tie-breakers in the fifth set, no question about it. I’ve actually thought of the possibility of a tie‑breaker at 3-all in the fifth set.
“If you’re going to have a shot clock, you should enforce it. I’m not a big believer that is a problem. I think that’s overrated.”
Several changes have been made to tennis this season, including the introduction of mid-match coaching, and developments in automatic line-calling technology.
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