Tennis Roundup : McEnroe Has Too Many Aces Against Curren

Top-seeded John McEnroe made only 45% of his first serves Sunday en route to a 7-5, 6-1, 7-6 victory over second-seeded Kevin Curren. But he made up for that with 15 aces to win the $60,000 first prize in the $375,000 World Championship Tennis Shootout at Houston.

McEnroe, who extended his career record to 7-0 over Curren, was in control most of the match, although Curren, who won last week’s tournament at Toronto, fought the world’s No. 1-ranked player to a standoff in the third set tiebreaker.

“He never really got my serve,” McEnroe said. “He really wasn’t picking up on either serve (first or second). I felt like I hit the ball well and I moved well. This is the best I’ve played all week. Curren didn’t have the feel that he needed when he served. I tried to make him work for all his points.”

Curren: “I felt like I never got into the match. He had me off balance and guessing. Unfortunately, I never guessed right. Early on, I was a bit nervous getting settled. I don’t feel like I served well today.

“I think he got a little nonchalant in that third set. I had my chances, but I wasn’t very pleased with the way I returned serve today.”

Curren, ranked 11th in the world, broke McEnroe in the second game of the third set to take a 2-0 lead when McEnroe double-faulted at break point.

McEnroe admitted he got careless and lost concentration in the third set.

“Keeping concentration is not paying attention to people in the crowd and to not let my chances get away,” McEnroe said.

“You’ve got to be looking ahead and assuming that it’s going to be tough. You have to try to be the best you can be and get as close to your potential as possible.”