Lack of Concentration Keeps McEnroe Out of Winning Grove

The ability to maintain his concentration, even through his stormiest fits of anger, has deserted John McEnroe just enough to prevent him from regaining his championship form.

McEnroe, ranked No. 1 in the world from 1981 to 1984, is attempting to regain his form after a couple of long sabbaticals. He won the Suntory Open in Japan and was a finalist in the National Hardcourts earlier this season, but has yet to find the groove that in the past made him a dominant force in tennis.

Just one week before the U.S. Open, a tournament he has won four times, McEnroe says he’s honing up the mental aspects of his game.

“It’s the mental part of the game that separates me right now from playing like I used to,” McEnroe said in telephone press conference from his home in Malibu.

“Unfortunately, I have gone out there and my mind wanders more than in the past. If I question points, I lose my concentration. That didn’t happen in the past.”

McEnroe, who will be 30 in February, says he’s relatively happy with the way his game has progressed since his return to competition.

“All in all, I’m pretty happy,” said the former Stanford star. “The swings are a bit larger now. One day you have every thing going and the next you don’t. There are a lot more variables in my life now. Some that are positive. But I’m going to have to give myself a little more time (to evaluate his game).”

However, despite the negative effects of his fiery spirit, Enroe is not about to change completely.

“I think I have it (his temper) under control,” he said. “But what is happening is that the umpires have got too much control over the game. I have to hit a shot that’s in by at least 6 inches in to get a call. If it’s on the line it’s out.”

Then McEnroe added: “I’ll never be a Bjorn Borg on the court.”

The former world’s best says he’s also not all that excited about September’s other big tennis tournament--the Seoul Olympics “My gut reaction is that I don’t feel all that positive about it (being an Olympic sport),” McEnroe said. “When I grew up it was not an Olympic sport, so I never aspired to it.”