The year 1994 was a tough one for American legend, John McEnroe. While he retired a couple of years ago, McEnroe was going through a turbulent personal life. Later that year, he announced his divorce from Tatum O’Neal after six years of marriage. The former couple shared three children together and McEnroe revealed the actual reason behind his first divorce.

The 65-year-old sat down with Andy Roddick on his Served podcast. During the conversation there, the duo talked about various topics – from the current generation of tennis to McEnroe’s post-retirement life. In one such conversation, McEnroe also went on to talk about the reason behind his first divorce.

The American legend stated, “As it turned out the end of my first marriage I was like hey honey if I don’t win this uh major this year which was 1992 um I’ll let you cuz she just well I might want to act again you know and we had three kids so you know one of us had to be at home so I was like it’s not looking too good that I’m going to win one since I haven’t won one in seven years so I was sort of thinking that but then we ended up getting separated and divorced so that next year was really really tough.”

McEnore’s divorce had a bitter ending, with both parties alleging drug addiction against each other. Subsequently, O’Neal lost the custody of her children after their divorce and developed a heroin addiction. Later, she eventually got clean.

Further, McEnroe has also discussed his divorce in his biopic, ‘McEnroe’. He once revealed the difficulties that came along with being a parent.

John McEnroe explains the struggles of being married

In the aftermath of McEnore’s first divorce, he found it difficult to move on. Moreover, he also found some difficulties in parenting after getting custody of his children but overcame it all. As a result, he feels that most parents can relate to his tale.

In his biopic, McEnroe describes, “I think there’s other things, such as being a parent, for example, that a lot of people can relate to and sort of the struggles of even being married. I went through a difficult divorce and then able to come out the other side and get a second chance. I think a lot of people relate to that also.”

Further, he also went on to say, “I’ve learned that, while my parents, I believe, were really good parents, that by far and away, for me, the toughest thing I’ve ever had to do was to try to figure out how to be a good father and a good parent. There’s nothing more satisfying, but more difficult.”

Three years after his divorce, McEnroe married Patty Smyth and the couple is going strong. Do you agree with McEnroe’s take on parenting? Let us know your views in the comments below.