McEnroe Reflects on 'Superbrat' image in podcast with Kyrgios: "I think they had it completely wrong. If anything, I was shy"

John McEnroe revealed how he overcame his 'Superbrat' personality in a conversation with Nick Kyrgios. The former world No. 1 established himself as one of tennis' greatest legends by winning seven Grand Slam titles in singles and another nine in doubles. With a total of 155 titles, he holds the highest men’s combined total of titles in the Open Era.

However, it was not just his talent on the court that gave him his reputation. During his career, he was one of the most controversial players tennis has ever seen, standing out in an era when tennis was a sport with few players of such controversial personalities.

The American former player participated in the recent episode of the podcast "Good Trouble with Nick Kyrgios" and recalled how his perception changed after an outburst in his first Wimbledon appearance: "I remember the first year I played here (Wimbledon). I was playing on Court 1, it was probably the first time they ever saw me get mad on the court,” John McEnroe said. “I had lost the first set, I took the racket (gestures breaking) and they all started booing and I was like ‘Why are they booing?’"

"I get back to New York... ‘Hey are you the brat guy? The Superbrat?’, wait a minute. And it just turned into… I was like ‘Superbrat’… that's got to be the worst goddamn name. I have to put up with this sh*t for the rest of my life," he said. "As a matter of fact, I'm 65 and I'm still hearing this but you do learn, you get a little bit of thicker skin, having kids has helped, but I was thin-skinned," McEnroe added.

McEnroe has three children named Kevin, Sean, and Emily from his first marriage with Academy Award-winning actress Tatum O’Neal. The former world No. 1 has two more daughters, Anna and Ava, with his second wife Patty Smyth, the American rock singer and lead vocalist of Scandal.

While talking with Kyrgios, McEnroe acknowledged that he was mistaken for a "Superbrat" despite being a rather reserved person in his own words: "I think they had it completely wrong. If anything, I was shy," he said.

"It’s like what better to show, fear, vulnerability, start crying on the court or anger? If that’s the choices... I hid behind ‘it’s better to get angry and deal with the ramifications of that than show fear, vulnerability'. But that’s all they see, they don’t see anything else," McEnroe added.