John McEnroe has opened up on the painful end to his tennis career, as he revealed he never officially announced his retirement.

The seven-time Grand Slam champion reflected on his story both on an off the court in a candid interview attended by Tennis365, with the American tennis legend revealing some of the regrets in his story.

During his playing days, many of the top players skipped playing the Australian Open and the French Open was also skipped by McEnroe on six occasions when he was an active player.

That explains why a player who was the dominant force in the men’s game at the start of the 1980s finished his career with seven majors, when he could have had so many more if he had played in Australia and Paris more consistently.

“I was the best tennis player in the world and that isn’t enough for you, so that’s tough. There’s nowhere else to go with that,” stated 67-year-old McEnroe, speaking in his role as a Eurosport and TNT Sports analyst.

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“Do I have regrets? Yes. I could have won more tennis matches. I should have won the French Open, I should have played the Australian Open more often. But I’m still talking to you now all these years later, so that suggests I left some kind of mark.

“It’s natural to think coulda-woulda-shoulda, but that won’t help me now. What I’d like to think is that each and every year, I’m a slightly better person and a slightly better father to my kids. Maybe I wasn’t that guy when my kids were growing up, but I want to be that guy now.”

When he spoke about his retirement, McEnroe admitted it came at a chaotic moment in his life, as he broke up with his first wife, actress Tatum O’Neill.

“When I decided to retire from tennis, I was going through the beginnings of a separation and divorce from my first wife,” he said.

“Basically, I said to my wife at the time, if I don’t win any more majors, I’ll stop playing and look after the kids. That allows you to go away and try to be an actress. Then, in the end, we ended up not being together and it threw everything off and I was in disarray.

“In fact, I never officially announced my retirement from tennis. So I’m here to do that today! I was so emotionally distraught and caught up in everything around my personal life that I never really said I was done with tennis.

“It’s tough when it ends for any athlete. You always think you can win one more.”

McEnroe remains a prominent voice in tennis and he admits his famous outburst when he screamed ‘you cannot be serious’ after what he felt was a bad line call at Wimbledon remains one of his most talked about moments.

“A day doesn’t go by when someone doesn’t shout ‘you cannot be serious’ at me or ask me to shout it at them. Is that sad or cool? I don’t know. Maybe it’s both,” he added.

“Looking back on that day now, the good thing is I didn’t curse at the umpire. My Dad always told me that if I was going to complain about a call, I can’t curse at them because they will mean I get a fine and I’d lose my argument.

“It was the only time in my 15-year career as a tennis player that I said those words, but it is probably remembered more than any match I won.

“Then, when I played on the seniors tour, it was basically in my contract to say that and to scream at a few of the umpires.”

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