Sue Barker was left mightily impressed by John McEnroe’s plush New York property, which he struggled to afford during his tennis career. Presenter Barker and pundit McEnroe are great friends, having worked together on the BBC’s Wimbledon coverage for years before she retired from presenting the tournament in 2022.
In 2019, she paid a special visit to McEnroe, 66, in his native New York to make a BBC documentary to mark his 60th birthday. As part of the trip, she visited his tennis academy, art gallery and impressive apartment in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where he had lived since the mid-1980s. While McEnroe is worth an estimated £90million nowadays, affording the apartment was a stretch at the time.
Writing in her book, ‘Wimbledon: The players, the place, the magic’, Barker said the property had “the most stunning views over the city” and added: “Mac stretched himself to buy the property during his early playing days and it is now a prime asset, proving what a savvy businessman he was even back then.”
The property, now valued at around £7.5m, includes four bedrooms, an office, a gallery and a large kitchen. Meanwhile, Barker was left aghast after being shown around his gallery in downtown Manhattan. She wrote: “Art is another of his great passions. We had a hilarious moment when I held the bottom of the ladder as John climbed up to remove a couple of paintings from the wall.
“The ladder was a bit wobbly, and I felt under extreme pressure. I carefully put the first painting he handed down on the table. The second one, I held in my hands, admiring it as John descended. How much do you think that one is worth, Sue?’
“Not wanting to look foolish as I really had no idea, I guessed $100,000. ‘Just over a million,’ he said – and I almost dropped it.
“Holding something so valuable was a first for me! I couldn’t believe Mac would trust me with handling it at all. I decided not to go near anything else in his gallery, much to his amusement.”
While he grew up in Queens, near US Open venue Flushing Meadows, McEnroe feels at home in Manhattan. Speaking during the documentary, he said: “I’ve lived in the same apartment for 35 years. I love being in Manhattan, I grew up in Queens, close to the US Open. But most kids, if not all kids, dream of making it in Manhattan.”
Meanwhile, McEnroe, who is one of the BBC‘s highest-paid presenters pro rata, will be back on punditry and commentary duties at this year’s Wimbledon, but won’t be joined by Nick Kyrgios after the Australian was reportedly axed from the line-up.
Content Source: www.express.co.uk