The married couple serve their takes on the surprising overlaps between their two worlds: tennis courts and Broadway stages.
Tony Award-nominated Broadway star Melissa Errico, 55, and ESPN commentator Patrick McEnroe, 59, have built their 27-year marriage on a foundation of shared history—first as childhood friends, later as husband and wife, and always as two people navigating high-pressure careers. What’s surprising is just how much a soprano and a tennis player-turned-broadcaster have in common work-wise. From recovery rituals to staying mentally grounded, their marriage highlights the universal importance of health and resilience.
Between U.S. Open matches, Errico, later joined by McEnroe, recently sat down with The Healthy by Reader’s Digest about sleep struggles, stress, and raising three teenage daughters. They also opened up about battling perfectionism—whether it’s learning to accept imperfection onstage, on the court, or in marriage, both agree the secret is protecting joy.
The Healthy by Reader’s Digest: We’re excited to talk to you both about all things wellness and health.
Melissa Errico: One of the things I’ve always felt bridges our two worlds—performing arts and tennis—is the mental maxims. Patrick said things to me that stayed with me. When we re-met as adults—I was 25, he was almost 30—I was rising on Broadway, starring in My Fair Lady and High Society, nominated for Best Actress, all these nice things. And Patrick would say, “Don’t run to the ball, let it come to you.” And I’d stop in my tracks. Or, “Relax your arm, the ball will go faster.”
I thought, Wow. This man who was trying to win the U.S. Open was teaching me that every world-class player except one will lose. Everyone loses. There’s so much losing in winning. Even the ones you do know about—failure and losing are part of the normal course of the day.
The Healthy: How did you learn to cope with that as a performer?
Melissa Errico: We’ve always shared an interest in what we’d call “repair.” If I perform and have two shows the next day, and another the day after, how do I repair and turn around? We come from different worlds, but we share the same drive: push our bodies, then repair. For me, organization is huge. When I began doing concerts and touring with little kids at home, I had to keep everything organized: where’s the music, what am I wearing, what’s the schedule? I worked hard to lower the cortisol of daily chaos. Keeping physical spaces neat—everything in its place—was key to reducing stress. Then there’s hydration. It’s water, water, water. And yes, electrolyte packs or coconut water. That helps when you’re working nonstop.
The Healthy: Absolutely.
Melissa Errico: The big divide between us is sleep. I’m in my early fifties, just starting menopause or at the end of perimenopause, and I don’t know if it’s related, but sleep is a struggle. He can just turn off, but I’ll be up fretting about our three teenage daughters, packing meals … [and] he’ll say, “She’s fine. It’ll be fine.” The algorithms are all over me now—every time I open my phone, it’s menopause, sleep, gut health. I don’t know where to go. My mother had breast cancer and survived; a friend has stage four. So do I do hormone replacement therapy? I don’t know. Instagram says yes, others say no.
I did do Zepbound [an injectable dual GIP and GLP-1 receptor agonist medication]. I have no reason to hide it. I had a hard time with that 20 pounds and I didn’t know what to do. But I haven’t been on it for two and half months and I haven’t gained anything back. [Editor’s note: Speak with a licensed healthcare provider before taking medication or making lifestyle changes.]
Patrick McEnroe [joining from the U.S. Open]: Sorry I’m a little late.
The Healthy: Patrick, thanks for giving us your time during a break from the U.S. Open! How do you prepare to cover a tournament that people around the world are watching around the clock?
Patrick McEnroe: Well, I’ve got my seltzer water with Emergen-C, my little coffee in the morning. But mostly, it’s year-round—we try to stay in shape. I still play tennis, not as much as I’d like, but I work out regularly. During tournaments, when I get a break, I’ll go out to Flushing Meadows Park or just walk circles inside the stadium for 20 minutes. I try to walk almost all the time. I also do weight training when I can, and uphill walking at the gym. Sometimes I’ll sneak in a nap—ESPN provides us with a luxury bus where announcers can rest. That’s huge for me.
Melissa Errico: Sleep is so easy for him. He can nap anywhere.
Patrick McEnroe: True. But professional tennis prepared me. Players practice in the morning, nap in the afternoon, and play late at night. Traveling the world, your body gets used to, “OK, I’m in Europe now.” Melissa’s found this app that she uses that works like a charm for her.
Melissa Errico: I use the Timeshifter app and I love it.
Patrick McEnroe: If you have a little downtime and you have a little energy, take a 10-minute walk. I find it totally refreshes me, it’s good for my brain. So that’s been the biggest thing I’ve learned in the last five years as I’m approaching the big 6-0.
The Healthy: Both of your voices are instruments in your careers. How do you protect them?
Patrick McEnroe: Melissa gives me a lot of advice. Once, during the U.S. Open, I hosted a big fundraiser and nearly lost my voice before commentating the men’s final. Melissa told me, “You’re fine—you’re just not using your voice properly.”
She was right. The next morning, I was fine.
Melissa Errico: Sometimes you think you’re losing your voice and you’re not. Your larynx is getting tight. Professional voice therapists call it “out of coordination.”
The Healthy: What’s one self-care ritual you each refuse to skip?
Melissa Errico: A bath. I don’t know if it has to do with menopause and my age, but the heat. I like to have the body temperature up one more time before it cools.
Patrick McEnroe: For me, walking. When we lived in the city, when we were first married, I would go to the local park and just hit. I’d bring a tennis racket and my ball and I would just go for 20 minutes and hit it against the wall. I don’t do that as much now, although I still love doing it. So the walking for me has kind of replaced that, where I can say, “I’ve got 20 minutes.”
The Healthy: You’re both on global stages. What do Broadway and tennis teach us about sustaining passion and longevity?
Melissa Errico: We have a common sort of enemy, which is perfectionism, and we both acknowledge that that can spoil all the fun. We’re not on earth forever, and if the quest can be fun and the outcome can be imperfect, you might have a good time.
He used to be a player. He’s lived in the shadow of his brother [John McEnroe], but he never really got down about it. And he then went on to be the Davis Cup Captain, the Olympic captain, he’s the president of the International Tennis Hall of Fame, and he is a very esteemed sports commentator. That just comes from a kind of humility, as much as pleasure in the process and not really thinking that the sky falls if you don’t get everything. Perfectionism, though, is a real enemy.
We never really had to grow up, either. Our careers are based on the impulses of children: To be in a play, to be on the court. We maintained that childlike quality, too. I think that might be something that we both share. And when each other has a quality we don’t like in each other, like children, we go in the sandbox and just mind our own business for a while. We give each other space.
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This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
