John McEnroe's son Kevin reveals his father's incredibly touching gesture towards ex-wife Tatum O'Neal at his wedding despite their bitter divorce

John McEnroe's son Kevin recently recalled an exchange between himself and the tennis legend at his wedding that moved him. The exchange involved Kevin's mother and McEnroe's ex-wife, Tatum O' Neal. McEnroe and O'Neal got married in 1986, but separated six years later, and eventually divorced in 1994, with Kevin being the first of the formerly married couple's three children.

Kevin, an author by profession, recently published an article written by him on his Substack. Here, he remembered how during his wedding, where both divorced father McEnroe and mother O'Neal were present, the latter was all set to sit alongside his wife's family. According to the author, this arrangement was thought of to keep the peace on his special day.

However, Kevin subsequently revealed how his father John McEnroe dismissed the arrangement and instead suggested that his ex-wife Tatum O'Neal should be seated with the husband's family.

"When we were getting married my mother was going to sit on my wife’s family’s side. We thought this would create less problems. My dad saw this, and he told he me thought she should sit with them. “I think she should sit with us,” he said. “I don’t know, Dad. I mean, it’s okay, you know? I -” “She’s gonna sit with us, Kev,” and he nodded at me, and I knew what was right," Kevin wrote.

Going on to explain the emotional impact he felt from his father's words, the author added:

"It moved me to no end - that’s family. I’m sorry it took me so long to appreciate it the way I should’ve. I’m sorry I wasn’t always there."

John McEnroe opened up about "difficult divorce" in candid 2022 interview

John McEnroe at the 2024 Laver Cup (Source: Getty)

In a 2022 interview with Australian TV program Sunrise, not long after the release of his biopic, John McEnroe briefly touched on the collapse of his marriage to Tatum O'Neal. He also talked about how he moved on from the divorce and later got a "second chance" from his present-day wife, Patty Smith.

"I went through a difficult divorce and then able to come out the other side and get a second chance. I think a lot of people relate to that also," McEnroe said.

McEnroe received custody of all his three children with O'Neal, including Kevin, due to his ex-wife's struggles with addiction. The American tennis legend, a former No. 1 and seven-time singles Major champion is happily married to Smith today, with the couple being parents to three daughters.

Edited by Sudipto Pati