Always the Superbrat

John McEnroe’s father calls. In fact, he calls McEnroe’s manager’s phone, presumably because dad doesn’t have a direct line to the great man himself. John Sr, who is tennis-mad, has a request: can he come with his son to a veterans’ tournament in Belgium? McEnroe is horrified. Having dad around is a major drag. ‘I was about to say absolutely not,’ he writes — when his old rival Björn Borg, who happens to be dining with him, interjects: ‘Let me speak to him.’ Borg, who had lost his own father three years earlier, tells McEnroe Sr: ‘Don’t worry, JP, if John doesn’t bring you to Knokke-Heist, I will.’

The story nicely summarises McEnroe’s current existence: celebrity company, low-stakes pleasure-seeking and indifference to others. Judging by his banal thoughts on modern tennis, he doesn’t seem very interested in the game anymore either. His memoir Serious was a bestseller, but this sequel is a book too far, written for a payday he doesn’t need.