4 days ago
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ESPN’s Patrick McEnroe and actress Melissa Errico’s decades-long marriage all started with a spark at the elementary school water fountain.
McEnroe, 59, and Errico, 55, were both students at Buckley Day Country School on Long Island, where McEnroe was best friends with Errico’s brother, Michael.
“He had this younger sister,” McEnroe recalled in an exclusive interview with Us Weekly. “When you’re in eighth grade and the younger sister is in fourth grade, that’s a pretty big age gap. But I always sort of had this little crush on her.”
He continued, “We had a moment that we both remember by the water fountain. We were both walking through school and we had this little moment, this little connection.”
Errico, who recently made her London concert hall debut with her acclaimed show Sondheim in the City Live!, recalled the interaction as if it was yesterday.
“We were in front of the water fountain by the science room,” Errico told Us. “The school was quiet. We looked at each other and there was this long pause. When we re-met in our 20s, we both remembered the moment by the water fountain.”
McEnroe, who now works as a commentator for ESPN after a lengthy professional tennis career, revealed how he and Errico eventually connected later in life.
After being forced to take some time away from tennis after having shoulder surgery in his late 20s, McEnroe went to see Errico’s brother Michael, a musician, play at a club in New York City.
McEnroe was excited to see his friend perform, but there was also another thought in the back of mind. “I’m looking around to see if I can find Melissa,” McEnroe explained.
After searching and browsing faces inside the club, McEnroe noticed Errico leaving and asked her for a serendipitous, impromptu date.
“We went out and had dinner and a drink together at The Corner Bistro,” McEnroe said. “We had nothing in common. Melissa knew nothing about tennis. I knew nothing about the theater.”
He added, “But here we are almost 30 years later and I’m an expert on Stephen Sondheim.”
McEnroe and Errico got married in December 1998 and have since welcomed three daughters: Victoria, 19, and twins Diana and Juliette, 16.
Despite their seemingly different backgrounds, Errico explained she and her husband are far more alike than an outsider might think.
“We’re very similar in a lot of ways, the athlete and the performer,” Errico said. “We’re used to setbacks. We’re used to every day being back to zero. You’re going to lose a lot. You’re going to lose more than you win.”
McEnroe called getting comfortable with losing “part of the business.”
“We’ve been very lucky, as we tell our three teenage daughters, that we were able to follow our passions and turn them into careers,” McEnroe said. “We still continue to evolve in different ways.”
He added, “I love her more than ever.”
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The couple’s continued evolution has been evident this summer, with McEnroe being a face of ESPN’s live coverage of the 2025 US Open and Errico preparing to bring her show, The Streisand Effect, to Los Angeles and New York City later this year.
“Barbra [Streisand] is an influence, and not that I want to be exactly like her, but she was a pioneer,” Errico said. “She started in the theater and she made her own thing. I have decided to cast her as an artistic mother of a kind that I need. As good as everything is around me, I’m always looking for an influence and something to push me.”
For all of Errico’s upcoming tour dates, click here.
English (US) ·