McEnroe, Staying Busy, Takes On Mecir Tonight

Although John McEnroe is in the midst of serving a 60-day suspension from the tour, he is anything but idle.

McEnroe, a four-time U.S. Open champion, defeated Paul Annacone, 6-4, 7-5, in the final of a special exhibition event in Atlanta on Sunday.

Earlier in the week, he defeated Jimmy Connors and pushed No. 1-ranked Ivan Lendl to a third-set tiebreaker before losing. McEnroe also beat Miloslav Mecir, 7-5, 7-6.

Now he plays Mecir again-- this time in the Michelin Challenge Series tonight at the Forum. The Series is a year-long, round-robin tournament, which also includes Lendl and Stefan Edberg, and the winner receives $100,000.

Luckily for McEnroe, the exhibition season is in full swing, and he is allowed to play these exhibition events.

“I was in New York for six straight weeks,” McEnroe said. “It’s good for me to get out and play some tough matches. Otherwise, you just tend to hang around the house.”

Before the suspension, McEnroe withdrew from a Grand Prix tournament in Los Angeles three weeks ago because he and wife Tatum O’Neal McEnroe were awaiting the birth of their second child, Sean.

McEnroe had received the suspension, and a $17,500 fine, for his actions during a third-round match against Slobodan Zivojinovic at the U.S. Open last month. Among other things, he shouted obscenities at the chair umpire, Richard Ings, and a CBS technician.

According to McEnroe, his next Grand Prix tournament will be the Australian Open in January. In the meantime, he’ll be playing various exhibitions in Europe, Mexico, and, of course, at the Forum.

Two of the top American junior prospects, 15-year-old Michael Chang and 18-year-old David Wheaton, will play before the McEnroe-Mecir match. Chang, who lives in Placentia, is showing that his U.S. Open performance was no fluke. At Flushing Meadow, N.Y., he became the youngest male to win a match in the main draw since the Open era began. And he pushed Nduka Odizor to five sets before losing in the second round.

However, Chang topped that by advancing to the semifinals of a Grand Prix tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz., before losing to No. 13-ranked Brad Gilbert. To reach the semifinals, Chang upset Jay Berger, who is ranked in the top 50 and veteran Ben Testerman.

Wheaton, too, holds impressive credentials. The Stanford freshman extended Lendl to three sets in a Grand Prix tournament in Washington a month before the Open. He also won two major junior titles in 1987, the National Clay Courts and the U.S. Open championship.