Tennis: McEnroe Tour is well worth it

Richard Dunn

Out of the clear blue Saturday, a longtime Newport Beach Tennis

Club member asked me, point blank, my thoughts regarding:

1) The large number of tickets available for the Success Magazine

Champions Tour at her club, after she phoned tour headquarters in

Pennsylvania and was reportedly told that only “two out of every 10

tickets have been sold.”

2) Has there been any real entertainment value to the men’s senior

tennis event?

3) Is the tour going to pay for the bleachers?

Well, OK. I was caught a little off guard, but the nice club member

who chose to remain anonymous had a legitimate point about the

entertainment value of the event.

First of all, I’m sure the tour will indeed pay all its debts, and,

let’s face it, everybody but the Lakers has tickets available.

But, in terms of pure tennis entertainment? I have two words: John

McEnroe.

Without Big Mac, the tour doesn’t stand a chance in this town. But the

fact McEnroe is here and winning will draw a good crowd in the spring,

summer, autumn or winter.

Some believe Newport Beach is Tennis Town USA, but that could also

work against the senior tour.

Why? Because senior players like Syd Ball and Phil Dent, just to name

two who live in Newport Beach, could beat some of the players the tour

sends out on the court.

Sure, the players aren’t as quick afoot as they once were and they’ve

lost a step or two or three or even four or five, but the fact remains a

couple of seniors lag so far behind that tennis aficionados wonder why

they’re there.

But then there’s McEnroe.

Yannick Noah is no doubt a great entertainer and excellent tennis

player with a huge serve, and Mats Wilander carries around seven Grand

Slam singles titles on his application, but they’re no McEnroe.

McEnroe is an artist on the court, plain and simple. He’s so crafty.

And his impromptu outbursts are either timed perfectly or well-rehearsed.

While McEnroe’s temper tantrums and racket slammings are legendary,

like him or not, his on-court antics are perfect for the Champions Tour,

which needs him much more than he needs it.

“I think he actually enjoys it,” Newport Beach club pro Scott Davis,

who lost to McEnroe Thursday night, said of Big Mac’s behavior, which has

had people talking for years. “I think he’s got it down pat ... I’m not

afraid to go to battle against him, but what I don’t want to do is get

into a non-tennis battle against him.”

McEnroe’s game, at age 42, is as sound as ever. He can turn it on any

time he wants. Now, he has reached the finals on the Champions Tour in 11

of his last 12 events and doesn’t appear to be slowing.

That’s good news for the tour, which made its initial Newport Beach

stop in 1998, a three-day event billed as the Challenge, which was played

at Palisades Tennis Club and featured McEnroe, Jimmy Connors and Bjorn

Borg. That event drew about 5,000 per session.

With Big Mac as the lone headliner this time, the crowds were smaller

but amazingly consistent -- an estimated 1,750 -- for Thursday night,

Friday night and Saturday afternoon. The capacity at Newport Beach Tennis

Club is 2,105.

Take out McEnroe and you have no event. Is he enough to carry the

tour? In Newport Beach, yes.

As for our friend who asked about the event’s entertainment value, Big

Mac is well worth it every step of the way.

A colleague in the newsroom asked me an interesting question Saturday

night. “Is McEnroe more entertaining on the court or during interviews?”

It’s a tie. He’s great at both. Big Mac can play here any time he

wants.