Tonight, McEnroe the show

Tennis legend John McEnroe, whose on-court antics are almost as notable as his Hall of Fame talent, will play for the New York Sportimes when the top team in World Team Tennis’ Eastern Conference meets the Newport Beach Breakers tonight at 7 at Palisades Tennis Club.

McEnroe, in his sixth WTT season, is making his first appearance for the Sportimes (9-3) this season. The team, for which McEnroe’s brother Patrick McEnroe is a part-owner, has clinched a berth in the playoffs and shares the league’s top record with the Sacramento Capitals.

McEnroe, 47, has entertained Newport Beach fans before. He played for the Sportimes in a WTT match against the Breakers in 2003 at Palisades. He also made a visit to Newport Beach in 2001, when he won a Champions Tour tournament at the Newport Beach Tennis Club.

His last visit to Palisades was not without incident. After becoming annoyed with the public-address announcer’s efforts to energize the crowd, McEnroe yelled at the announcer, prompting the referee to issue him a penalty point.

McEnroe then plopped down on the Sportimes bench to protest the penalty, resuming play only after an estimated five-minute delay.

McEnroe was also involved in a verbal disagreement with singles opponent Brian MacPhie, then a member of the Breakers.

At one point, McEnroe and MacPhie were involved in a verbal exchange at the net that prompted Breakers Coach Dick Leach to intervene and direct the players back to the game.

McEnroe, elected to the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999, won seven Grand Slam singles titles and 10 Grand Slam doubles titles.

McEnroe announced his return to the ATP Tour in 2006 as a doubles player. In his return tournament, McEnroe and Jonas Björkman of Sweden won the doubles title at the SAP Open in San Jose.

It marked McEnroe’s first ATP title since winning the Paris Indoors in November, 1992 with Patrick McEnroe.

He became the oldest player to win an ATP title at 47 years, three days. The win also gave John McEnroe doubles titles in four decades.

In 2005, McEnroe finished the year ranked No. 2 on the Tour of Champions.

Breakers officials said tonight’s match is sold out and the crowd may exceed the estimated 2,100 that witnessed Pete Sampras’ Breakers’ debut on July 10.

The Breakers (5-8) are coming off a five-match road trip in which they went (1-4).

Despite sitting in fifth place in the six-team Western Conference, the Breakers, by virtue of hosting the league semifinals (Saturday) and final (Sunday), are guaranteed a postseason berth.

Newport Beach will play the league’s No. 4 playoff qualifier ? the top two teams from each conference make the postseason ? in a wild-card match Thursday, with the winner advancing to the semifinals.

Sampras will play in the wild-card match for the Breakers, as well as all their subsequent postseason matches.

dpt-breakers.BGraphicInfoKD1T8VPK20060725KD1T8VPKCredit: Caption: (LA) dpt-25-mcenroe1-BPhotoInfoKD1T8S1M20060725hi3rfgkfCredit: DAILY PILOT FILE PHOTO Caption: (LA) The New York Sportimes’ John McEnroe glares at a line judge during 2003 match against the Newport Beach Breakers. The tennis Hall of Famer will make his season debut for the visitors tonight at Palisades Tennis Club. dpt-25-mcenroe2-BPhotoInfoKD1T8UKM20060725hi3retkfCredit: DAILY PILOT FILE PHOTO Caption: (LA)John McEnroe, 47, still has plenty of game, as he showed by winning an ATP doubles title in 2006.