Wimbledon: Am I surprised John McEnroe turned to coaching? Heck, no. There's nothing he can't do

The American could have been a success in many fields in my opinion

John McEnroe watches his new charge Milos Raonic in the first round (Getty)

These are extraordinary times for my profession. I’m not sure that coaching has ever been more high-profile. Everywhere you look here at Wimbledon there are legends of the game working with players on the practice courts, watching their matches or catching up with their contemporaries.

In my view it’s been great for the game to have guys like Boris Becker, Ivan Lendl, Goran Ivanisevic, Michael Chang, Sergi Bruguera and Richard Krajicek back on the scene. Holy mackerel, what a competition we could have if the coaches played a tournament. It would be just like the old days.

Although many of the recent greats have turned to coaching, I can imagine that many people were surprised when John McEnroe followed suit. He’s been working with Milos Raonic through the grass-court season. Judging by results, it seems like it’s been going well. His only defeat so far was against Andy Murray in the final at Queen’s Club nine days ago.

We’ll get a further idea of what progress the big Canadian is making when he plays his second match of the tournament against Andreas Seppi on Wednesday.

As a player he was a magician who could beat you with his racket and with his mind

&#13; <p>I have a lot of respect for John McEnroe</p>&#13;

Was I surprised to hear that McEnroe was teaming up with Raonic? Heck, no. I’ve known John for a long time and the big thing I’ve come to appreciate with him is that he’s someone who could turn his hand to anything. Nothing ever surprises me about John any more.

He knows the game inside out and he’s a great commentator, but I think some people in tennis might underestimate him. He’s been brilliant at everything he’s done in our sport, but there’s much more to him than tennis. He’s a very intelligent guy who could be a success in plenty of other fields.

As a player he was a magician who could beat you with his racket and with his mind. His sliced serve was always one of his biggest weapons. When he hit that serve into the ad court you just knew that he was the big favourite to win the point.

A lot of the time his opponents knew exactly where he was going to hit that serve, but they could do nothing about it. However, I’ve always said that even if he didn’t have that serve in his arsenal his mind was so sharp that he would still have found a way to win matches.

If any of my players ever faced McEnroe I always told them just to focus on the ball and the next point, not to worry about whatever he was doing or saying. Every time he threw a tantrum, don’t think he wasn’t in control. He knew exactly what he was doing.

What will he be saying to Raonic? I think he’ll be telling him: “Boy, you’ve got a big serve, but if you don’t capitalise on it you’ll never realise your potential. And the longer you spend on the baseline the less chance you have of winning. If you want to win the biggest prizes you’re going to have to get into the net and make your opponents attempt to pass you.”

I think he can help Raonic with some of the little things that are lacking in his game. For example, he needs to improve his movement out to the right when he’s playing a forehand. I think McEnroe will also be encouraging Milos to make more of his physical presence on court. He’s a big guy with a big game and I think he sometimes needs to remind opponents of that.

Who I met today…

I had a nice chat with Fabrice Santoro. I said to him: “You’re the magician, baby!” He was such an inventive player to watch.

It was also good to see Paul Annacone. As a player Paul knew that he couldn’t hit a forehand so he always tried to get his ass into the net. He was a clever player, so it’s no surprise that he became a great coach.

Mary Carillo was in fine form too. She’s made a wonderful career for herself on television. She introduced me on the day I was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame at Newport, Rhode Island. If we had more people who were as smart and as positive as Mary the world would be a better place.