Great competitor. Acommplish alot with his talent. The guy who put Borg into retirement. That says alot

What can you say about the Mac? Charm, personality, brain, technique! One of my all time favorites, greatest behind Federer, Sampras, and Borg only....above Connors, Lendl, Agassi...........

Top 5 ...in whining like a baby lol

Borg was the best ever. I would put Sampras and Federer in a tie for second at this point, and McEnroe could beat any of them on a given day. The best? No. But certainly in the top 5 of all time.

Whit out a doubt the best player of all time was Mac, he revolutionized the serve and volley game. When opponets played him they were carved to pieces. He handled all the great players in there prime, from Lendl, Borg, Conners and he could also play doubles and davis cup. He had no real weakness in his game. His only slight weakness was his fitness that hurt him at the French in 1984.

Talent on loan from God!

Certainly the best volleyer of all time. Was unbeatable when he was on, though he could lose to anybody when his concentration was off. They should take his suggestion and have some tournaments in which the players are limited to wooden racquets. I don't find mens' tennis much fun to watch anymore, with rallies rarely going over 6 strokes.

a genius

not the great one!

I'll give him a 5 even though record wise he was NOT the best, but I really think he had more TALENT than anyone who ever picked up a racket. The problem was that John wasted it by never really training, never taken the opposition seriously enough and a lot of partying in NYC. But based upon talent alone..I think his SKILL level was higher than anybody ever. Not the results, but the skill level.

has a talent, but its not the great one....

I'll concede that he was a very aggressive, and very talented tennis player. But what an absolute JACKASS (1 Star Penalty). I love it when yet another show he stars in tanks. He exudes unlikeability.

Johnny Mac was one of the greatest players of all time, he was great in an era with min. 3 other greatest of all time, Borg, Connors and Lendl and he was number one, his alltime greatness you can see in his all tournament record of 154 in singles and doubles, 26 tournament he won in singles and doubles together, no other greatt player of the open era did so, neither sampras nor borg. Sampras will be the greatest single men player but Mac was the top of the tennis greates time of the late 70'ies and early 80'ies in which time where the greatest sum of greatest matches and players where active. The golden age of tennis and Mcenroe was on top.

THE BEST THERE HAS EVER BEEN. TENNIS LOST MORE THAN IT WILL EVER KNOW WHEN HE QUIT PLAYING. IF HIS PERSONAL LIFE HADNT GOTTEN IN THE WAY THEN WHO KNOWS HOW MANY TITLES HE WOULD HAVE ONE!

Mc is one the the greatest beneficiaries of american media hype. He is grossly overrated and treated like tennis royalty. The truth is that his foulmouth tactics and tempr tantrums were part of a hype campaign hat won him alot of attention while distracting his opponents.He his the ultimate gamesman. Mc had a solid game with some deft touch. He is one of the more exciting players the tour has seen.He just wasn't a good sportsman.

He is the MAN!!!!!!!

he is awesome

McEnroe used gamesmanship to win a lot of his matches. In my view he deliberately set out to upset his opponents by throwing a tantrum, acting petulantly, having long arguments with the umpire, getting the line calls overruled in his favour - usually at critical times of the match and usually while he was losing. Also he intimidated the linespeople so he got the best of the close line calls. You could see the steam coming out of the opponents ears as they had to wait patiently, and lose momentum, while Mac spat the dummy. Tortured genius said the commentators. What a prat thought the sensible watchers. The next thing you know his opponent would concentrate all his efforts in trying to drill the ball through him! They lost the plot. One wonders whether he would have won some of those grand slams if he wasn't allowed to get away with employing his psyching out technique. Certainly none of the other greats had to resort to that sort of gamesmanship to win their matches. Having said that I enjoy him as a TV commentator.

he was one of the greatest and he didn't win so many slams like sampras because at the end of '70 and in beginning of '80 there were to many good players like borg and lendl on all the surfaces,vilas and wilander on red clay,connors on fast courts and then becker and edberg.His '84 year was astonishing winning 82 of 85 matches with lendl,connors and wilander around.

of course for pure skill he is probably one of the greatest. But in the end, erratic, and downright unbearable with his antics. Other players managed to reach greatness without submitting referee and opponents to abuse. That also counts, and it is definitely against him

I believe every dictionary should add ..McEnroe to definitions of the word "genius". There really is no other word that better captures the essence of the McEnroe game! Mac could things on the court that other mortals could never do. mercurial, temperamental and eccentric Mac declared his own tennis law. I can't understand all the criticism about his behaviour, because tennis would not have been the same without the entertainment value it created. He was also a proud champion.. I don't think he will completely forget that heartbreaking loss to Ivan Lendl in the 84 French Final, if he had crossed that finish line he would have been closer to being THE greatest!

YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS! Top 5?, no way.

Wonderful to watch, wonderful for the game. Brilliantly talented player and great TV commentator.

John McEnroe was undoubtedly one of the best tennis players of his era. Though he wasn't THE VERY BEST, or the most athletic, he brought made tennis a graceful art that no player ever did or probably ever will. They sure don't make them like they used to. I miss his antics, also; he was a classic. Definitely one of the top 10-15 tennis players ever.

Never will we be able to watch a match such as his where you might not have wanted him to win (or you may have), where you would be sitting on the edge of your chair because his shotmaking was so wonderfully artistic yet unreliable.His net game created a blueprint of perfection for generations to come. Never powerful,he relied on his touch, court sense and lightning fast reflexes to keep us riveted. His 1984 yearlong dominance, not counting the French open, will stand the test of time and be remembered as greatness.

John mcEnroe was a ok player. he had a good volley and serve, but not in the league of an Ivan Lendl or Rod Laver, people who revolutionized the game. Rocket Rod dominated tennis in his time with the use of top spin and changed the way people played the game. Lendl, with his trademark forehand, had more talent in his pinky finger NAIL, than john whats-his-name had in his wildest egomaniacal dreams. Evidence of Lendl's superiority over Mcenroe: French Open finals where they met head to head and john was left crying in his towel. rating of mcenroe: he was about 75% of an Ivan Lendl.

John McEnroe was probably the most talented player I ever saw.Having never really seen Panco Gonzalez or Rod Laver in their primes and considering the differences in training and equipment it is difficult to compare players from different eras.But he had great court sense,imagination and touch with his shotmaking and a very difficult delivery on his serve to deal with.If he could have kept his cool he probably would have won at least 10 slams maybe more.

Way overrated! When he did beat the great Bjorn Borg he did so only when Borg had already lost his desire to play. When both men were at the top of their games, Borg was much more brilliant. At his best, McEnroe may have been in the top seven or eight all-time. Borg, was NUMBER 1. McEnroe's obnoxious displays on the tennis court didn't help!

For me, John McEnroe is my pick for the greatest tennis player of all time no question about it.His shot making was just sheer brillance.When John was in in his prime no one could touch him.He was at a whole another level then everyone else.He dominated not only in singles but in doubles too.The only down side I see in his tennis career was that being as great as he was should have won more grand slams in singles.

suck, loser, worst, trash, underachiever, less than zero, disaster

For me, John McEnroe is/was the master of the tennis racket. Simply the best. I wonder how great he could of been had he been able to control his temper. John, I love ya and gotta thank you for keeping me enthralled with your genius on the court for so long.

Absolutely the BEST of the lot...unique, artistic, exciting to watch, mesmerising tennis, a complete riot and yet exceptional and perfect in his game. John McEnroe is my favourite tennis player of all time and I find him to be in a class of his own. He can laugh at himself and is his own worst enemy, and any player who wants to win at all costs will go to any lengths to do so. Mac had this complete desire to WIN and to be the BEST he could be on any given day. I am 3 yrs younger than Mac and remember all of his matches, including the classic match betwen him and Borg in 1980-Wimbledon. Goes down as the most exciting tennis I have ever witnessed. Totally excrutiating stuff! Go John McEnroe,,,I love ya!

Great player no doubt about it, especially in his own mind. Had almost a complete lack of class in my opinion.

McEnroe the best there has ever been. Bar none. I like Pete but he played won when the skill level wasn't that outstanding. I'd have like to see Pete play Ivan Lendl, Borg, Nastase, Connors in their prime. Then maybe he would get my number 1.

He wasn't the most talented tennis player of all time, and he certainly wasn't the most appealing, but he was the Picasso of the courts. McEnroe could pick apart an opponent's game until there was no more. And his hands - master of the greatest volleys the game will ever know - from either side, everyone hot perfectly. I know, I played against him once. Quite humiliating. Yeah, I know, he shouldn't have argued all those line calls, but the replayes did show he was almost always right.

superbrat

McEnroe played very good for an athlete who likes to drink and smoke. Top 3 All-Time Yes, but No. 1 no. Sampras gets my vote.

Tennis is all about getting frustrated. McEnroe was the only reason I didn't feel bad about getting kicked out of high school tennis matches.

Perhaps the most talented player in the last 30 years. What he did, he did with a wooden racquet!!

He gets a five as the best tennis player of all time because of his skills not his accomplishments. If he actually focused on his game he would have won more. But best pure talent ever.

John McEnroe is the all-time most entertaining player!

Got to love him due to his emotions and arguments on the court.