John McEnroe Won Wimbledon, Then Shared a Joint With Mick Jagger

McEnroe and Richards
John McEnroe, left, and Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards at the U.S. Open in Flushing Meadows September 8, 1999. Mike Segar/Reuters

Seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe has revealed that he shared a joint with Mick Jagger in 1981, the year he won Wimbledon for the first time.

In an interview with The Sunday Times, McEnroe explained how on the night of the Wimbledon final he partied with The Pretenders, and in the same year met The Rolling Stones in New Jersey, where he and Jagger smoked up together.

McEnroe, then 22, famously snubbed the Champions' dinner at SW19 and spent the night with The Pretenders. "I might have been the Wimbledon champion but I knew I wasn't in the same league as these rock guys when it came to partying," McEnroe said.

The American tennis star enjoyed spending time with these musicians, though, and later that year he met the members of The Rolling Stones at Meadowlands in New Jersey. McEnroe went backstage and met Keith Richards and Ronnie Wood.

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"They were warming up, having a drink and partying pretty hard," McEnroe said. "I was thinking, 'How the hell are these guys going to play?' As they were hustling us out so they could go on stage, someone said, 'Mick Jagger wants to say hello,' so the next thing we know Vitas (Gerulaitis) and I are smoking a joint with Mick Jagger. That was a memorable night."

McEnroe got to know the Stones over the years, but it wasn't long before he bumped into them again—on court, at the ATP Finals at Madison Square Garden while playing Guillermo Vilas.

"I'm trying to ignore it, but this guy's going, 'John, John.' I'm about to tell him to get lost, but when I turn round, it's Ronnie! I had this incredible jolt of adrenaline, I've got to say, to see Ronnie Wood and Keith Richards sitting in their leather pants at a tennis match."

McEnroe now works as a commentator for television, and will be working for the BBC at Wimbledon for the next two weeks.

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