John McEnroe's daughter Emily says she has come a long way since her life as a celebrity child: "They wanted my autograph when I was 11"

John McEnroe’s daughter Emily recently reflected on her life as a celebrity child, and the strides she has made in the years since.

Emily McEnroe, the daughter of the American tennis legend from his first marriage to famous Hollywood actress Tatum O’Neal, was once asked to sign an autograph when she was just 11 years old. The 31-year-old recently signed her first autograph as an adult, owing to her personal accomplishments after stepping out of the shadows of her celebrity parents.

The happy incident made her nostalgic, and she revealed in a recent Instagram post that she had only ever been asked for an autograph as a child before - by an ardent fan of her seven-time Slam winning father.

“The only other person who has ever asked me for an autograph was a guy who said they were such a big fan of my dad’s, they wanted mine when I was eleven,” Emily said in the Instagram post.

Emily, who is the youngest child of McEnroe and his first wife O’Neal, has established herself in the entertainment industry as an actor. She made her acting debut in a 2022 sci-fi movie called “Futra Days”, and has also appeared in a documentary about her father. Emily also works as a voice actor.

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"I sort of didn’t realize that can be somewhat overwhelming" - When John McEnroe opened up about the struggles of raising his kids in the limelight

In an interview from 2018, John McEnroe talked about the struggles faced by his kids for being seen as the children of a tennis legend.

The American, who has three kids with his first wife Tatum O’Neal and two step-children with his current wife Patty Smyth, spoke about not understanding his children well enough. But he also expressed his wish that his children made their own career choices without facing the burden of being “John McEnroe’s kid.”

“I would like to hope that it’s a good problem to have (being a celebrity child), 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.

“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 added.