"My wife allowed me to be me, which I think is important in a relationship" - John McEnroe on his relationship with wife Patty Smyth

Tennis legend John McEnroe has heaped praise on his current wife, Patty Smyth.

After coming out of a contentious marriage, John McEnroe wed Patty Smyth in 1997. The 63-year-old is happily married and frequently attributes his professional success to his wife.

In a discussion on The Empire Film Podcast, the seven-time Grand Slam champion praised his wife's virtues. He stated that she encouraged him to be who he was, which is important in a relationship.

"My present wife, who I have been with almost 28 years, finally I feel like allowed me to be me, which I think is important in a relationship. If you can have that, you feel like it's already a success," McEnroe said.

John McEnroe's documentary 'McEnroe' was released back in September. It follows the American as he finally shares his perspective on his legendary career.

"It's not like I was going out and saying to anyone that was interested, 'Hey, I am doing a documentary, is anyone interested?'. I mean fortunately there were people coming out my way and they thought it would be a good idea cause I was like willing to look back what happened 40 years ago again, I felt like it was important to show the journey to where I have got to," McEnroe said.

"You know that was as important to me so that I would be willing to start to look back and hopefully I have learned from the mistakes and and learned to appreciate things more," he added.

---

"It doesn’t happen that often in a relationship for whatever reasons, but that’s the key to success" - John McEnroe

Louis Armstrong Stadium Dedication Ceremony

John McEnroe lauded his wife in a July interview with The Sun Showbiz. He said that his wife's support allowed him to flourish, even though this rarely occurs in a relationship.

"I ended up meeting my wife patty, now my present wife, and she did something that I think was all you could ask of a partner is allowing that person to flourish and be the person he wants to be like be himself. She let me be me and I think it doesn’t happen that often in a relationship for whatever reasons. But that’s the key to success in a way," McEnroe said.

Here’s what he said about being honest in life:

"I believe that I try to be honest in life. When I do commentary, it’s obviously a different form of honesty. I mean, you talking about… you are being the backseat driver."