John McEnroe

How many times in a day do people shout 'you cannot be serious' at you and how do you deal with that?

Probably seven to ten. I deal with it sometimes better than others. At the immigration, when I came into England, the guy said that to me after I'd waited over an hour in line. And so I wasn't as amused as I normally am at this point. But it's incredible that people say that to me all the time. … I find it sort of somewhat pathetic, but mainly positive that people still bring it up right there. And then he asked me, are you tired? Are you in a bad mood? Why are you asking me these questions?

What were your parents yelling about? What was the subject?

It didn't matter what it was. They just sort of liked to raise their voice. My father would always say to me, he'd say, John, you don't need to do this type of behavior. You know, you're better than them. Just go out and play. But the way he'd say it, like, you don't need to do this. … So there was an intensity from him and an expectation from my mom. … my dad went to law school and he finished second out of 450 people, and my mom was like, Why didn't you finish first? So there was this expectation of success, I suppose, that was from a very young age, that my mom and dad expected me to do well.

What was the sensation when you first picked up a tennis racket?

Well, I'm going to be truthful and honest here, but I don't remember picking up a tennis racket. I don't remember learning how to play. I just remember knowing how to play. … I know I went and hit against a wall and that I was starting to play at a club at eight and a half years old. And so for whatever reason that I don't know, but if you believe in sort of that outliers theory by Malcolm Gladwell, if you believe in up above, some type of God wanted me to play tennis.