“I’m slipping in the rankings,” said McEnroe, answering where would he rank himself among the greats. “But hopefully I’m still in the top 10. I’m struggling a bit recently. A couple of guys moving past me. If you combined everything, hopefully they combine like doubles, singles, Davis Cup, seniors, maybe I’d move up a little higher.”
Playing at the net and putting pressure on the opponent is what made McEnroe great, he said of himself. But most know Mac for his character. He seemed a bit laid back during the press conference, but he was still able to show the stuff that made him famous during his playing career.
And the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion showed it before a World Team Tennis match at Breakers Stadium. Granted it was a meaningless match, as both the Breakers and New York Sportimes had clinched playoff spots.
But then again, what event is meaningless with McEnroe on hand?
He beat the Breakers’ fan favorite Ramon Delgado, 5-4 (5-2 tiebreaker), as part of the Sportimes’ 24-14 win.
At 50, he’s still as tenacious as ever. He showed that last week as he argued when he saw a teammate of his get hit by a shot against the Washington Kastles.
So it came as no surprise that Mac appeared agitated when he fielded a question from Lyn Jensen of the Random Lengths, Harbor Independent News. Jensen, a reporter from Carson, wanted to know how today’s players would fare in McEnroe’s era.
He never really answered the question, mainly just pointing out the aspects of yesteryear and today.
So, later Jensen pointed out again how interesting it would be for today’s players to compete in the past era.
