"That was the ultimate embarrassment" - When John McEnroe vowed never to play mixed doubles again

John McEnroe had a stellar career, excelling in both singles and doubles. McEnroe won seven Grand Slam singles titles and nine doubles Majors. He also has a mixed doubles Slam to his name, winning the 1977 French Open with Mary Carillo.

Despite winning a Major, however, John McEnroe once had a moment when he had no desire to play mixed doubles. In his book "You Cannot be Serious," the former World No. 1 recalled a match against Stan Smith and Anne Smith at the US Open in 1978 when his partner was his then-girlfriend Stacy Margolin.

McEnroe wrote that he lost his serve twice during the match while no one else lost theirs.

"The last mixed-doubles match I ever played (until the ’99 Wimbledon) was at the ’78 U.S. Open, with Stacy again. We played Stan and Anne Smith, and lost 3–6, 7–6, 3–6. I lost my serve twice, and nobody else lost his or hers the entire match," McEnroe wrote.

The American claimed that losing his serve twice during the match was the ultimate embarrassment and that it made him vow to never play mixed doubles again.

"That was the ultimate embarrassment. I said, 'That’s it; I’m never playing again. I can’t handle this.' It wasn’t Stacy’s fault; it was mine. I was pretty match-tough, but that kind of pressure was beyond me," McEnroe said.

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John McEnroe teamed up with Steffi for the mixed doubles tournament at Wimbledon 1999

John McEnroe and Steffi Graf at the 1999 Wimbledon Championships

John McEnroe eventually returned to the mixed doubles circuit in 1999, aged 40. That year, he teamed up with Steffi Graf in a high-profile doubles pairing for the Wimbledon Championships.

The duo were seeded ninth at the grass-court Major. They booked their place in the third round with two straight-set wins: over Jeff Coetzee and Eva Melicharova followed by Eyal Ran and Vanessa Menga.

They were supposed to face second seeds Lindsay Davenport and Todd Woodbridge next, but that pair withdrew from the tournament. McEnroe and Graf thus reached the quarterfinals and defeated the eighth-seeded pair of Venus Williams and Justin Gimelstob to book their place in the semifinals.

The duo were scheduled to take on third seeds Anna Kournikova and Jonas Bjorkman in the final four. However, they ended up withdrawing from that match as Steffi Graf wanted to keep herself fresh for the women's singles final against Lindsay Davenport.