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Patrick McEnroe’s Hardcourt Confidential: Pat Mac’s Inside Look at Davis Cup, American Tennis and the Grand Slams

Joe Samuel Starnes — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 00:19:35 +0000

After Andy Roddick’s heartbreaking loss last year to Roger Federer at Wimbledon, an anxious U.S. Davis Cup captain Patrick McEnroe visited the London house where Roddick’s camp mourned. He asked Roddick about playing in the U.S. team’s quarterfinal match with Croatia the next weekend, a grueling task on red clay. Roddick, “hemmed and hawed,” and McEnroe knew then that Roddick had “pretty much made up his mind not to play.”

McEnroe writes:

So I gave him an out, saying ‘You know it really looked like you tweaked your hip out there in that fourth set.’

Myerson (Roddick’s agent) immediately looked at me and silently mouthed the words: Thank you.

Given all Andy has done for Davis Cup, it was the least I could do.

Roddick’s announcement came the next day that he had a hip flexor injury and would miss the match with Croatia. This incident where McEnroe developed an injury excuse for his star is one of the more candid and surprising looks behind the scenes in McEnroe’s new book Hardcourt Confidential: Tales from Twenty Years in the Pro Tennis Trenches. Written with Tennis magazine’s Peter Bodo, McEnroe also delves into the Grand Slams, the USTA’s player development program, as well as his own career as a player, coach and broadcaster.

McEnroe at one point acknowledges the obvious conflict of interest he has of serving two masters – the USTA, as Davis Cup captain and head of the nation’s player development, and ESPN, where he fulfills the role of broadcaster. He also addresses a life lived partially in the shadow of his temperamental tennis legend sibling — the advantages (lots of wild cards when he was playing) and the disadvantages (the frequent “professional brother” accusation). The most interesting part of his relationship to John is the story of their match in the singles final at Chicago in 1991 that John won 6-4 in the third set, a match Patrick wasn’t as determined to win as his brother. “I just know I was thinking, Do I really want to win this? It would be such a hard pill for John to swallow.”

The final score on this book is that it is chock full of entertaining and well-crafted tennis stories, especially about life on the U.S. Davis Cup team, and the 2007 road to victory where the U.S. won its first cup in 12 years. For fans of Davis Cup, American tennis, the Grand Slams and the McEnroes, it’s a must read – a true tennis nut’s book, not simply a self-absorbed memoir.

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An Unlikely American in Australian Open: Hopes for a Great Hurrah for Michael Russell

Joe Samuel Starnes — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:41:51 +0000

I’ll never forget watching Michael Russell against then No. 1 Gustavo Kuerten in the fourth round of the 2001 French Open. Russell, a qualifer then ranked 122 in the world, won the first two sets and was up 5-2, and held a match point but couldn’t close it out. He lost in five sets, and Kuerten went on to win his second French Open, defending his championship from the previous year. I wonder how Russell’s career would have been different if he had won one more point, and moved into the quarters.

Russell, who turned 32 on Jan. 5, has held an ATP ranking since 1995, mostly out of the top 100, and often far below. He has been as high as 60 in the world, reaching that mark in 2007. He recently climbed back into the top 100, and stands at 90, although he was 79 in October after winning a challenger event. He has a tough draw, going up against No. 4 Juan Martin Del Potro on the first day of the Aussie Open. (On a side note, U.S. Davis Cup Patrick McEnroe should consider giving him a shot against Serbia in March on the clay there — it’s his best surface, and without Roddick and Blake, the U.S. goes into Serbia very thin.)

Journeyman is a term often used for players like Russell, meaning they’ve traveled the world but have never been able to crack the top ranks of the game. I’m sure you’ll heard it bandied about if his match get much air time (It probably will, since he’s playing Del Potro — they are the third match on the Hisense Arena on day one). But the determination of a player like Russell who has fought 17 years on the tour should not be under-appreciated. No media ever covers these guys, but they continue fighting into their thirties. Russell, by the way, has outlasted Kuerten, who retired in 2007.

I keep hoping for a Rocky-like character to emerge from American tennis, and tonight, I’m pulling for Mike. (Check out his Facebook page if you want to cheer him on.)

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The McEnroes Bare Their Ignorance of Tennis History

Joe Samuel Starnes — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 02:17:40 +0000

In golf announcers usually know and have respect for the history of Bobby Jones, and in baseball Babe Ruth’s legend is well known. But in tennis, the history of the game is as murky to the McEnroes as the $8 beers the U.S. Open sells. Here’s a rundown of John and Patrick McEnroe’s errors when discussing Bill Tilden and tennis of that era during Roger Federer’s match on Wednesday night:

PatMac: “Tilden won six in the thirties.” No, it was 1920-1925.

Johnny Mac: “Did the winner play just one match then?” (essentially a challenge draw like Wimbledon once did and Davis Cup did until the early 70s where the defending champion automatically went to the final). No, Tilden played a full draw.

Pat and/or John (the errors were hard to keep up with): The U.S. Open was played in Boston until the thirties. No: The men’s singles moved from Newport, R.I. to the West Side Tennis Club from 1915-1920. For three of the years Tilden won the U.S. Championship, 1921-1923, it was held at the Germantown Cricket Club, a block from where he grew up in Philadelphia. In 1924 it moved to the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills.

Where is Bud Collins (or at least his Encyclopedia of Tennis) when they need him?

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With Roddick Out of Davis Cup, Fish Gets the Call

Joe Samuel Starnes — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:54:49 +0000

Andy Roddick’s marathon epic against Roger Federer left him with an ailing hip, forcing him out of this weekend’s Davis Cup match on red clay in Croatia. In his place will be his good friend and sometimes doubles partner Mardy Fish, who will fill the other singles along with James Blake, in the American team’s effort to beat the only nation in Davis Cup history against which the U.S. is winless (0-2) and has a losing record against.

Although there was some speculation earlier in Wimbledon by John McEnroe that Sam Querrey would make the team managed by Patrick McEnroe, Fish is the right choice with a higher ranking, a recent third round appearance at Wimbledon, and slightly better results on clay. He and Blake also reached the semis in Wimbledon in doubles.

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U.S. Davis Cup Selection: If Not Blake, Give Fish a Chance

Joe Samuel Starnes — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 15:54:23 +0000

During Sam Querrey’s five-set loss to Croat Marin Cilic on Tuesday, John McEnroe said it is very likely that his younger brother and Davis Cup captain Patrick would choose Querrey for the U.S. match against Croatia on clay starting July 10 instead of a lagging James Blake. A USTA press release the same day said an announcement about the team selection would be made later this week.

Blake’s ranking is down to 17, and he lost both in first rounds of Wimbledon and the French Open. He played poorly in his Davis Cup match in March against Stanislas Wawrinka (McEnroe in his Davis Cup diary published in the July issue Tennis magazine expressed displeasure at Blake’s unwillingness to change tactics).

But if Blake wants to play, he should be named to the team. He has been a loyal team member and still has a better record on clay (6-5) this year than Querrey (3-5) or Mardy Fish (4-5). Blake’s tough win over Mikhail Youzhny in 2007 in Portland is a key reason the U.S. won the cup that year.

If Blake opts not to go, as he did against Spain last year, Mardy Fish should get the call to join Andy Roddick as the singles players, even though he lost to Djokovic today in three sets. Fish is ranked 25, reached the quarterfinals of last year’s U.S. Open, and is in the third round of Wimbledon, not to mention he won the Delray Beach tournament in March. Querrey’s results this year have been disappointing, and that’s why he is ranked 47. He was unable to serve out the second set against Cilic on Tuesday to give himself a two sets to love lead and a chance at winning the match. Besides, Fish is 27 and Querrey only 21, so Querrey will have his chances in the future, while Fish’s window is narrowing.

Fish showed his loyalty to the Davis Cup cause last fall, flying to Spain on late notice one week before his wedding to fill in for an injured Bob Bryan in the doubles – and that was after lower-ranked Querrey was selected ahead of him in singles. Fish, to his great credit, never publicly complained about being passed over for singles. Instead, he showed up and played tough. He and Mike Bryan won the doubles, giving the U.S. its only point against the heavily favored and ultimate championship Spanish team.

In addition to the much higher ranking, Fish has earned the selection through his selfless actions. If not Blake, Mardy Fish should play in Croatia. Otherwise, I think Patrick McEnroe will have some serious explaining to do.

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