The statistics speak for themselves. Seventy-seven singles titles. Seventy-seven doubles titles. Seven times a Grand Slam champion. Five times a Davis Cup winner. World number one for four consecutive years. A Performance in the 1984 Wimbledon final - 6-1, 6-1, 6-2 destruction of Jimmy Connors - that is widely seen as the most flawless of the modern era.

John McEnroe made waves on his very first Wimbledon in 1977. An eighteen-year-old qualifier from Queen's, New York, he stunned the tennis world by reaching the semi-finals, and shocked it with his on-court behaviour. When McEnroe kicked his tennis racket in the quarter-finals, he found himself booed for the first time - and loved it. What followed was a double act of technique and temperament that set the sport alight: SuperMac, the sublime, unorthodox genius, whose 1980 Wimbledon duel with Bjorn Borg - including THAT tie-break - was as breathtaking as it was unforgettable; Superbrat, the foul-mouthed fireball, furiously yelling at officials, fans, players and himself alike.

SERIOUS chronicles the astonishing story of the tennis star whose stardom transcended tennis: the outsider status that made McEnroe friends with Keith Richards and Jack Nicholson; his stormy marriage to Tatum O'Neal; his forays into the worlds of art and rock music; and his arrival as one of the most astute sports commentators around.

John McEnroe can be serious. He can also be humorous, impassioned, candid, controversial and painfully honest. This is his astonishing story: an autobiography as enthralling and as inspiring as the great man himself.