How different is he now? "I'm less intense, I know it's not the end of the world. I have different priorities, I have children . . . and yes, tennis is still better than having a real job." He also wants to start a tennis academy in New York. The Dublin hotel lobby is busy, but the detached, thoughtful McEnroe, who knows his sport well beyond his own game, has a loud voice. People look. I try not to appear a fawning fan. A man passes, bends down and says "Happy birthday, John, I only found out today," he gets a bigger smile than I did 30 minutes earlier. Oh well. But no one could fault McEnroe for not answering questions. He does.
Precocious as he was - getting to the final on his first visit to Wimbledon as a college-boy amateur in 1977 - McEnroe admits that he was not one of those tormented tennis babies given their first racket at the age of three. "That didn't really start until after my time." And of course most of the tennis infants have tended to be girls. As a boy in Queens, McEnroe enjoyed all sports: "I played basketball, American football and soccer." He liked ball sports but most of all, as he stresses, "I liked team sports. Tennis is very selfish, so selfish. The sport is selfish. So are the players. I've always enjoyed doubles." His first Davis Cup appearance was the year after his Wimbledon debut.
Born in February, 1959 in New York, McEnroe is the eldest of three sons. "My childhood was normal, there was no pressure. My brothers are normal human beings. My parents stayed together, they're still together. I don't know why I yelled, there is no reason." His father had a law firm in New York; McEnroe went to Stanford. Not to study law: "No I was just doing the usual first-year courses. My parents wanted me to have something to fall back on in case this (tennis) didn't work out." McEnroe agrees his home life was privileged and middle class. He seems neither. "I left college and turned pro." The young McEnroe had one great hero, Australian Rod Laver, another lefthander. "He had this huge left arm. I wanted mine to be like that. It never was, but I had fun trying to make it bigger, like his." This said with one of his few big smiles, he suddenly looks years younger.
WHAT of the game now? "There's too many tournaments. At least, I think there's too many." How about the money? "Yeah, there's too much. There's too much money in sport period. There's too much money in everything - look at entertainment." As a player who once questioned the claims made by women players for equal prize money, McEnroe now says "the women's game is more entertaining. Also, I've been influenced by all these girl children I have. Nowadays I say the men should take equal pay while they can." Asked to name the best players, he says different players brought different things. Laver, of course, remains central. "But players are physically bigger, stronger. The racket technology has improved . . ." As for the players of the past decade, he says "Becker, Sampras and Agassi".
Of his many titles, was any one particularly important? "They all were. Winning the US Open, for an American is special." How about that first Wimbledon in 1981, when he ended Borg's five-year reign, the year after being the losing finalist? "Yeah, that was good I guess." Within two hours of winning, he was fined £5,000 for tantrums and abusive language throughout the tournament, despite playing a disciplined final. He was also denied automatic membership of the All England Club. "I wasn't too worried about that. I reckoned as I wasn't around so much it wasn't that big a deal." Still, he admits to loving Wimbledon, even if it looks less fairytale in reality. "Sure, it gets kinda shabby by the end of the tournament, but I've always liked the place." The Australian title remained elusive. "Yeah, in that I never won it. But for the first seven years of my career, I never went there. It was at Christmas and I tended to stay with my family, my parents. I suggested they should change the dates." Eventually, it was moved to mid-January.
His eldest boys are now at an age when people must mention their famous father to them. Does he mind being remembered as a tennis player? "No, it could be a lot worse. I have no problem with that." As for them playing tennis? "It's not that great. If they did play, people would point to them, `They're McEnroe's kids; are they any good? Do they yell as well?' "
Aside from playing tennis and TV commentary on the sport, what are his interests? "The arts. I have a gallery in New York, in SoHo. I do a bit of buying, a bit of selling." Most of the work is figurative and largely by US artists. Home is in the city, "right in the middle of things". So no house in upstate New York, with a stable of horses and five dogs? With an are-you-for-real glance he says, "No not yet, maybe in 10 years when the kids are older and so am I."
The ATP Tournament of Champions is running at the Point this weekend, with coverage on Network 2, at 7 p.m. tonight and 3 p.m. tomorrow