‘That Was the Proudest Decision I Ever Made’ – John McEnroe Details His Conversation With Nelson Mandela and Why He Refused to Play in South Africa

John McEnroe has never been one to hold back on his opinions. And this habit of the ‘superbrat’ has remained the same over years. Be it hitting massive power strokes on the court, presenting matches post-retirement, or sitting for a casual interview to discuss food and art, McEnroe has always been brutally honest with his opinions. Recently, we got to see that side of the tennis legend in an interview on Ruthie’s Table 4, a podcast that has become immensely popular.

McEnroe did not shy away from delving into both political and personal topics. He made sure that his audience knew what he felt in the moments he was describing in the present. The most striking point of the podcast was after the 9th minute, when Ruthie popped a question about McEnroe’s popular refusal of the South African deal. True to his nature, McEnroe was pleased to elaborate on the topic and said that it was the proudest moment of his life.

John McEnroe talks about the proudest moment of his career

The year was 1980, and South Africa was suffering a full-blown apartheid. It was during this time that McEnroe was asked to play an exhibition match against Bjorn Borg in South Africa. For it, he was offered $1 million. However, the then-21-year-old ATP icon refused the amount and the opportunity to play in the country.

Talking about how McEnroe seeks to reform tennis, Ruthie raised the topic of his decision to not play in South African. McEnroe thanked her for bringing it up and elaborated on what it means to him. “Thank you for saying that. That was the proudest decision I ever made, you know,” says McEnroe while talking about the incident.

Even in previous interviews and retellings of the same story, McEnroe often talked about how he did not accept the offer, as he knew they would use his match as propaganda. He did not think that it would make much of a difference if he played, or even if he didn’t, but he refrained from it anyway.

Ruthie takes the lead and retells what she and her friends talked about at that time.

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“I remember being with our friends and saying, ‘This kid in Wimbledon what’s not right. His political and social values are so correct. And there weren’t many players who were doing that'”.

Moving from this line of the conversation, the duo went on to talk about the time when McEnroe finally visited South Africa after the apartheid and ended up meeting the “most beautiful man ever”, Mr. Nelson Mandela.

When McEnroe had a fanboy moment

McEnroe spoke of his experience of meeting the late Nelson Mandela as the philanthropist President invited him into his house. He wishes he could have taped the moment, but from what he remembers, Mandela told him, “It’s an honor to meet you.” McEnroe was rather shocked at this. It was something he was going to tell Mr. Mandela, but the latter had already blown him away with his generosity.

“And he was the most beautiful man I ever met”, says McEnroe. “Just his hand, it felt like I was shaking hands with an angel! There was this feeling that I can’t explain.”

McEnroe also gifted the president a wooden racket from Wimbledon, after which Mandela confessed to listening to McEnroe’s iconic match with Bjorn Borg in 1980 that was made into a movie.

It was then McEnroe realized that the President was actually in prison on Robben Island when he listened to his match over the radio. McEnroe remembers feeling small at his reaction to the mild inconveniences. Standing in front of a man who did not even “have a bone of bitterness in his body”, McEnroe was star-struck, to say the least.

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All in all, meeting the legendary Nelson Mandela was certainly an eye-opening moment for tennis’ superbrat. Were you ever awestruck by such a moment? Let us know in the comments!