John McEnroe and wife thinks it’s possible he is autistic

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The star, who attained world No. 1 ranking in both tennis singles and doubles retired from playing professional tennis around 1999. Yet his legacy on the court still remains, with McEnroe a popular choice to commentate on current games for both American and British television networks such as ESPN and the BBC. Not one to mince his words, McEnroe recently spoke about his past in an interview ahead of the release of a bracingly honest new documentary about his career. During the interview, the star speaks about his legacy of having “you cannot be serious” tantrums during matches and the effect this had on his health as a result.

Reality hit when McEnroe was ordered by the court to see an anger management counsellor after his divorce with actress Tatum O’Neal.

“I’ve had plenty of therapists,” he says. “Some of them court-appointed."

The star continues to say that the new 2022 self-titled film has been “therapeutic in some ways”, helping him to come to terms with the fact that he didn’t say goodbye properly to his father before he died in 2017.

Providing some sense of explanation to his explosive behaviours in the heyday of his career, McEnroe’s wife Patty Smyth offers that her husband may be on the autistic spectrum.

She theories that McEnroe’s ability to excel in one skill at the exclusion of others fits that theory, as does his irascibility when things don’t go to plan.

On this McEnroe commented: “It’s safe to say that I’m probably somewhere around there,” neither confirming nor denying the possibility of autism.

You can’t be serious