"McEnroe was an innovator for more subtle, yet important, and still relevant reasons. At a very particular moment in the growth of our sport, when there was a general tendency to turn it into a defensive game, among many uninspired imitators of Borg, he explained to everyone how attack was still an essential part of the game and set the tone for those who came after him, such as Becker and Stich, Stefan Edberg, and Patrick Rafter. John defined a concept of anticipation that was even greater than the current one: he anticipated not only his opponent's shots, but even their geometry. (p. 7)"