John McEnroe was one of the best tennis players of his generation, with the American star managing to score three Wimbledon titles during his time on Centre Court.
However, despite welcoming six children, the star has revealed that he did his best to caution them away from tennis. Back in 2018, he told Graham Bensinger on his podcast, In Depth: "One of the reasons why I really pushed my kids away from tennis is because I didn't want them to have to live up to sort of, 'You gotta be better than John McEnroe,' and in addition to the fact that [it'd be like], 'There's McEnroe's kid, how does he act?'"
He added: "I wanted to try to have the kids to have a fire in their belly for whatever they wanted."
© Getty ImagesJohn has managed to achieve his wish with his children all pursuing widely different careers from law to teaching and even acting. The star is a father to Netflix star Emily McEnroe who made her acting debut in the feature film Futra Days, before starring as Scarlett Johansson's voice double for Ghost in the Shell.
His son, Kevin, is also a talented author who published the novel Our Town in 2016. However, Wimbledon hasn't entirely skipped John's family as his stepdaughter, Ruby, once worked as a production assistant at the tournament, alongside the French Open.
John's life away from the court
John married actress Tatum O'Neal in 1986 and they went on to have three children together: Kevin, 39, Sean, 38, and Emily. The marriage ended in divorce in 1994, with John later gaining custody of the children.
Emily has described her childhood as both privileged and painful. While she recognised the material advantages of growing up in Manhattan's Upper West Side, she has previously admitted: "All the money in the world doesn't matter if you are sitting in a mansion being unhappy."
© UK PressIn 1997, the tennis star married rock singer Patty Smyth, with the pair welcoming daughters Annie and Ava. John also became a stepfather to the singer's daughter, Ruby.
John's style as a father was hands-on. Emily says he regularly made breakfast and drove her to school, despite a demanding schedule: "He did that week in, week out, no matter how busy his life was."
