“The toughest thing I ever had to do is try to figure out how to be a good father” – When John McEnroe spoke on struggles of parenting six children

John McEnroe is a father to six children. He had three kids with his ex-wife Tatum O’Neal and two with his current wife Patty Smyth along with a step-child.

In an interview from 2018, McEnroe confessed that his toughest job was figuring out ways to be a good father.

“I’ve learned that, while my parents, I believe, were really good parents, that by far and away, for me, the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do was to try to figure out how to be a good father and a good parent. There’s nothing more satisfying, but more difficult,” he said.

The American tennis legend opined that the experience changes certain things and adds more flexibility.

“I suppose and maybe I was, in some ways, too protective with the older ones. You know, I was the oldest, so, you know, ‘You’ve got to be home at 10:00!’ So, you get to be looser as time goes on because you realize that you’ve got to be able to be more flexible and maybe you don’t have to be quite as intense about certain things. You live and learn and certainly, it depends on the person you’re with,” he remarked.

---

“I could’ve done a better job parenting” – John McEnroe

John McEnroe, who has had a very successful tennis career with 77 career titles and seven Grand Slams, admitted that he should have been more sympathetic towards his kids in understanding that being a successful parent meant undue pressure on the children to perform well.

“I would like to hope that it’s a good problem to have, but I don’t think I was as sympathetic as I could’ve been. I sort of didn’t realize that can be somewhat overwhelming and I think it continues to be, in a way,” he said.

The former World No. 1 further revealed that he did not favor his children in taking up tennis due to the fear of comparison and scrutiny.

“It’s tougher for me to see my kids feel like they have a hard time living up to my expectations. One of the reasons why I really pushed my kids away from tennis is ‘cause 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 all be ‘There’s McEnroe’s kid, how does he act?’” he said.

The four-time US Open champion also said that he wished to have done better at parenting so that his son, Kevin, who is an author, realized that he wasn't pressured to become successful.

“I would have liked or hoped I could’ve done a better job parenting so that he would understand that that’s not what I need from him,” McEnroe voiced.