"I’m thinking, ‘What? We don’t want peace!": John McEnroe recalls rift with Jimmy Connors and attempts to patch it up

Few figures in tennis embody both the fire of competition and the weight of legacy quite like John McEnroe. After seven years as Team World captain at the Laver Cup, McEnroe has a unique perspective on the stress, strategy, and symbolism behind an event that has become one of the sport’s most distinctive stages.

“It’s stressful,” he admitted during a live edition of Served when asked what Andre Agassi and Yannick Noah, the current captains, would be feeling as the 2025 edition got underway. “They’re questioning the decisions they made — the picks, how it’s going to work out — and hoping there’s still some fun in it. It’s a great event; I did it for seven years and loved it. But in the moment, it feels like a lot’s at stake.”

For McEnroe, the Laver Cup has always been an uphill battle for Team World, given Europe’s depth of top players. But the challenge was also what drove him. “Ultimately, as a captain, you try to make that tiny little bit of difference — maybe five percent — that could be the difference between winning and losing,” he said.

If singles stars usually grab headlines, McEnroe has long believed that doubles often decides the Laver Cup. The loss of players like Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul — both dangerous in singles and strong in doubles — struck him as especially costly.

“Doubles is more important than people think — critically important at the end,” McEnroe said. “The first year Team World finally won, Felix Auger-Aliassime had to play doubles even though he didn’t really want to. He ended up playing Novak in singles, too. We were way behind on the last day — the day with the most points. That’s why the format’s set up the way it is: it ain’t over till it’s over.”

Shelton, he added, had been “great for a couple of years” and versatile with multiple partners. “I wanted Ben to play every doubles match he could. I liked him with different partners, and he did well with everyone. You want your best players out there the last two days.” The structure of the event is part of what appeals to him. “It’s great: not best-of-five, just two sets and a breaker. Fans love that,” he said.

Strategising for the Laver Cup wasn’t just a captain’s job, McEnroe stressed; it was collaborative. “The good thing about some of our players — Taylor Fritz comes to mind — is that they’re really well-prepared. They think through all the possible scenarios,” he explained.

He preferred involving players in discussions about lineups and matchups. “It really was a group thing. I wanted them in the meetings. We made the final call so they wouldn’t feel guilty about leaving someone out, but they were absolutely involved in predicting who Bjorn [Borg] would pick.”

Asked who his dream partner might have been if the Laver Cup had existed during his playing days, McEnroe laughed. “God, I hadn’t thought about that. Imagine me and Jimmy Connors together? Well, I don’t know if that would’ve happened.”

Borg, the only rival he never fought with, would have been on the opposing side. More likely, McEnroe could have teamed with his longtime doubles partner Peter Fleming, or even Pete Sampras, with whom he played Davis Cup. “I even played Davis Cup once with Connors,” he added. “For nine of the 12 months we got to the finals, we didn’t speak to each other. That’s not the team vibe you want.”

That frosty partnership with Connors remains one of McEnroe’s most memorable stories. “It wasn’t ‘we,’ it was him,” he said. “He started it. I’d played Davis Cup every year for seven years before 1984. Suddenly Jimmy and his manager realised the only thing missing from his résumé was Davis Cup. He’d always refused to play.”

With Arthur Ashe as captain, tensions came to a head. “Arthur told me: ‘John, the team dinner’s Wednesday. Jimmy doesn’t want you there.’ I said, ‘Arthur, I’ve played every match for seven years. Jimmy just came in for his résumé. Maybe he should skip dinner.’ Arthur agreed. So Jimmy didn’t come. We didn’t speak most of that year.”

At the final in Sweden, McEnroe and Fleming faced Stefan Edberg and Anders Järryd in doubles, trailing two sets to one, when he noticed Connors suddenly cheering him on. “I thought, ‘To hell with that guy,’” McEnroe laughed. “But I felt horrible because I was playing for my country.”

After the match, Connors unexpectedly extended an olive branch. “We went out to dinner, and suddenly he’s like, ‘It’s all good, John.’ And I’m thinking, ‘What? We don’t want peace!’”

Beyond the rivalries and tension, McEnroe’s deepest respect is reserved for the man whose name the event bears: Rod Laver. “Rod Laver is our Babe Ruth,” he said, recalling watching him as a boy. “I used to cry when he lost to Ken Rosewall. He had that huge left arm — I tried everything to make mine bigger, but I’m the only number one with arms the same size.”

Laver’s accomplishments remain almost mythical. “He won the Grand Slam twice. In 1962 as an amateur, then again in 1969 after being barred from the majors for five years because he turned pro. That’s insane. He was 30 or 31 when he did it. He made about $100,000 in 1970 playing 35 events. A first-round loser makes that now at the US Open — thanks to him.”

What stood out most to McEnroe was the sacrifice. “People don’t realise the grind. Playing in high school gyms, putting up and taking down courts six days a week just to scrape by. Federer had the vision to honour him with the Laver Cup, and I think young guys like Alcaraz get it.”

When Roger Federer and his agent Tony Godsick first floated the idea of captaining Team World in 2017, McEnroe didn’t hesitate. “Easy. Count me in,” he said. “They explained the vision at Wimbledon: make it like the Ryder Cup in golf, bring the best together as teams. Then they said the other captain would be Bjorn Borg. That sealed it.” Borg, he added, felt the same way: “Easy yes.”

For McEnroe, sharing the Laver Cup stage with Borg was perhaps the most personal gift of all. “Bjorn and I are synonymous in a way,” he said. “I remember watching him at Wimbledon when I was 13 — the coolest guy ever. He wins, and 200 girls run on court. That’s when I decided I wanted to be a pro.”

Their duels in Wimbledon and US Open finals became legendary, and though Borg retired too early for McEnroe’s liking, the Laver Cup gave them both a chance to reconnect. “It gave us the chance to see each other, hang out, relive memories. That’s been the greatest gift of all.”