John Mcenroe

John McEnroe isn't back. He's gone. And so is Mats Wilander, the defending U.S. Open champion. On the most upset-filled night in recent Open history, No. 4 seed McEnroe and No. 5 seed Wilander both lost. The minister of McEnroe's misery was someone named Paul Haarhuis. That's Paul Haarhuis (pronounced Har-hous), the pride of Eindhoven, Netherlands, Armstrong State (Ga.) and Florida State. Haarhuis, ranked No. 115 in the world, put McEnroe in the out-huis with a 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-5 shocker.

John McEnroe did his job yesterday at the U.S. Open. He trudged onto the stadium court of the National Tennis Center at 11 a.m. with a scowl on his face and sleepiness still lingering in his eyes. Only a couple thousand fans saw the beginning of McEnroe's 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 win over Martin Laurendeau, a French Canadian qualifier from Montreal who understands French better than English and who couldn't translate McEnroe's cruel angles at all. Good thing for McEnroe, the No. 16 seed.

The good folks of the United States Tennis Association can recognize a hot ticket. A hot ticket is the one that will admit a fan to the National Tennis Center's stadium court on Wednesday night when Jimmy Connors will, not so coincidentally, play his first-round U.S. Open match and turn 40. Trust us, that will draw a crowd. Connors, who still can run down anything until a hamstring tightens up or a groin muscle twinges or a shoulder aches, made a wondrous run to the semifinals of last year's Open, a run that still has everyone talking.

There are certainly some unlikely characters left at Wimbledon. The sulky Englishman who described himself as shattered after surviving a five-set struggle. Two other qualifiers, including the charming Muscovite who knocked out Jim Courier, the world's top-ranked player. And John McEnroe, supposedly washed up, who now can see a path to the semifinals. One week is done at the All England Club. Sixteen men and 16 women remain. Most of the drama so far has been on the men's side. As usual, the four or five women given chances to win the tournament are moving toward each other without much resistance.

Boris Becker had never been beaten like this before. He didn't believe anyone could beat him on Centre Court at Wimbledon - not from the baseline. But yesterday, Andre Agassi did just that. And mentioned afterward how a baseliner is two matches away from winning Wimbledon. Agassi put the 1985, '86 and '89 champion away with astonishing ease in the completion of their quarterfinal match, which had been suspended because of rain on Wednesday. "I have not seen anybody on grass playing that kind of tennis - I mean, from the back," the fourth-seeded Becker said after Agassi's 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 victory.

Any place with a tea lawn and a dress code doesn't sound like John McEnroe's kind of place. But shortly after 7 last night, as he walked into Court 1's fading light for the best-attended mixed-doubles match in Wimbledon's history, 11,000 tennis fans cheered and screamed his name. In typical fashion, McEnroe responded by waving his arms and urging them to yell even louder. And they did. "That was unbelievable, the response from the crowd when we walked onto the court, wasn't it?"

RANDALL'S ISLAND, N.Y. — Martina Hingis is no longer among the top-ranked players, but she's still got game. Wednesday night, she easily defeated Karolina Pliskova, 5-1, to help lead the New York Sportimes to a 23-16 victory over the visiting Freedoms in World Team Tennis action. The Freedoms (4-3) host the Orange County Breakers on Thursday night at the Villanova Pavilion at 7 o'clock. On Friday, the Freedoms host the Sportimes (3-3) at the Pavilion. John McEnroe and Hingis are scheduled to play for New York in a match that will be televised on Comcast SportsNet.

LUKA GREGORC won his singles match, then teamed with Jordan Kerr to win at doubles and lead the Freedoms to a 23-19 victory over the Orange County Breakers in World Team Tennis action at Villanova's Pavilion Thursday night. Gregorc beat John-Patrick Smith, 5-4, in singles. He and Kerr defeated Travis Parrott and Smith, 5-4, in doubles. On Friday night, the Freedoms will host the New York Sportimes, who will feature Martina Hingis and John McEnroe, at the Pavilion at 7 o'clock. The matches will be televised on Comcast SportsNet.

John McEnroe, winner of four straight U.S. Pro Indoor tournaments in the 1980s, said yesterday that he had accepted a wild card into this year's tournament. The $1 million U.S. Pro Indoor, which begins Monday at the Spectrum, already includes Australian Open finalist Ivan Lendl, defending U.S. Open and Pro Indoor champion Pete Sampras, and John's brother Patrick McEnroe, a surprise semifinalist last month at the Australian Open. The tournament also will feature Americans Tim Mayotte, Brad Gilbert, Jay Berger, David Wheaton and Jim Courier.

Patrick McEnroe hopes to succeed where his older brother failed. McEnroe was introduced yesterday as the 38th captain of the U.S. Davis Cup team, replacing John, who quit after only 14 months on the job and a 5-0 loss to Spain in the semifinals. Unlike John McEnroe, who tried to build his team around Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi, Patrick wants "to create a. . .team spirit among all the players. " Neatly sidestepping questions about Sampras, Agassi and even his brother playing on the team, Patrick kept returning to his themes of team effort and new faces.

The Freedoms selected Jessica Pegula as their first-round pick on Wednesday in the World TeamTennis roster draft. Pegula, a 19-year-old WTT rookie, has a WTA singles ranking of 142 and doubles ranking of 96. She is the daughter of Penn State benefactor Terry Pegula, who owns the NHL's Buffalo Sabres and AHL's Rochester Americans. In the second round, the Freedoms drafted doubles specialist and 2011 WTT female MVP Liezel Huber. The third-round pick was Australian Samuel Groth, best known for hitting the fastest recorded serve in tennis history (163.4 m.p.h.)

NEW YORK - That Andy Roddick's last match as a twentysomething would not be his last match at the 2012 U.S. Open was hardly in doubt Tuesday, especially whenever he was launching that intimidating, tough-to-handle serve of his. To close the first set: ace at 141 mph. To close the second: ace at 134 mph. To close the third: ace at 127 mph. Yes, even as Roddick's 30th birthday approaches on Thursday, even as his body has succumbed to injury...

John McEnroe turned back the clock for tennis fans Friday night with a vintage performance. Now, if only he could do that during the points themselves. Playing with the New York Sportimes during their 19-18 World TeamTennis victory in a super tiebreaker against the Freedoms at the Pavilion at Villanova, McEnroe argued with the umpire, slammed a ball into the net in frustration after a double fault, and once cocked his racket, preparing to chuck it after hitting a ball out of bounds.

LUKA GREGORC won his singles match, then teamed with Jordan Kerr to win at doubles and lead the Freedoms to a 23-19 victory over the Orange County Breakers in World Team Tennis action at Villanova's Pavilion Thursday night. Gregorc beat John-Patrick Smith, 5-4, in singles. He and Kerr defeated Travis Parrott and Smith, 5-4, in doubles. On Friday night, the Freedoms will host the New York Sportimes, who will feature Martina Hingis and John McEnroe, at the Pavilion at 7 o'clock. The matches will be televised on Comcast SportsNet.

Local tennis fans will be able to watch four former players with a combined 27 Grand Slam titles compete in a one-night event in November. Jim Courier, John McEnroe, Patrick Rafter, and Pete Sampras have all signed up to play at the Champions Shootout in the Wells Fargo Center on Nov. 2. The event is part of the PowerShares Series, a seven-week circuit featuring former players who have either been ranked No. 1 in the world or who have reached at...

RANDALL'S ISLAND, N.Y. — Martina Hingis is no longer among the top-ranked players, but she's still got game. Wednesday night, she easily defeated Karolina Pliskova, 5-1, to help lead the New York Sportimes to a 23-16 victory over the visiting Freedoms in World Team Tennis action. The Freedoms (4-3) host the Orange County Breakers on Thursday night at the Villanova Pavilion at 7 o'clock. On Friday, the Freedoms host the Sportimes (3-3) at the Pavilion. John McEnroe and Hingis are scheduled to play for New York in a match that will be televised on Comcast SportsNet.

One of the greatest American men's tennis players of all time, John McEnroe dominated the pro game from 1979 to 1984 and won 17 Grand Slam titles, including three in singles play at Wimbledon and four in singles play at the U.S. Open. Now 52 and a television commentator for several major networks, McEnroe was in Philadelphia last week as a member of World TeamTennis' New York Sportimes to play against the Freedoms at the Pavilion at Villanova University. Always one to put on a show during his heyday, McEnroe still knows how to entertain.

During an era when American men's tennis is often called a wasteland, what's a loyalist to do? Hop into the Way-Back Machine. Set the dial to 1981 (OK, that's kinda-back) and the GPS (one modern convenience allowed) to New York City. Tonight at Randall's Island Park, as part of a World TeamTennis match pitting the Freedoms vs. the New York Sportimes, Bjorn Borg will square off vs. John McEnroe. Yes, you read that right. Borg vs. McEnroe. Does it get any better? Didn't used to. The showdown was among the topics late yesterday afternoon at Villanova's Pavilion, as McEnroe, joined by Sportimes teammate Martina Hingis, staged a news conference to discuss all things tennis.

Andy Roddick got the best of John McEnroe, but the Freedoms fell to the New York Sportimes, 20-19, in a World TeamTennis match at Randalls Island, N.Y., last night. Roddick defeated McEnroe, 5-4, in men's singles and teamed with Prakash Amritraj to down McEnroe and Robert Kendrick, 5-4, in men's doubles. Roddick also competed on the winning mixed doubles team. In other matches, the Sportimes' Abigail Spears defeated the Freedoms' Noppawan Lertcheewakarn, 5-2, in women's singles and Spears and Ashley Harkleroad downed Lertcheewakarn and Courtney Nagle, in women's doubles, 5-2. Roddick makes his only home appearance of the season tonight against the Boston Lobsters at 7 o'clock at Villanova's Pavilion.

In the 1980s and early '90s, John McEnroe was a regular participant at the U.S. Pro Indoor tournament in the soon-to-close Spectrum. He won his last title - and fourth straight - there in 1985, beating Miloslav Mecir in three sets in the final. "It was a big event," said McEnroe, in town yesterday as he and the New York Sportimes visited the Philadelphia Freedoms in a World TeamTennis match. "There were a lot of great matches there. I experienced both highs and lows in Philly.