L.A. Tennis Tournament : Resurgent McEnroe Overpowers Annacone

John McEnroe, Malibu’s baron of the beach, hopped on a nice wave in his quest to once again become king of the court.

McEnroe overpowered Paul Annacone in an impressive display of controlled aggression and won easily, 6-1, 6-2, in a first-round match of the Volvo/Los Angeles tennis tournament Wednesday night.

A crowd of 6,744 at the Los Angeles Tennis Center watched McEnroe serve and volley his way into a rematch of a French Open encounter with 16-year-old Michael Chang.

McEnroe won that June meeting in straight sets, but what’s going to happen this time?

“He’s a good little player, but if I stick to my game, I’ll win,” McEnroe said. “If I don’t . . . I don’t even want to think about it.

“If I play well, I’ll win matches. If I don’t, then I won’t. You don’t have to look at it too deeply.”

In his match against Annacone, the only thing deep was the location of McEnroe’s groundstrokes. He either seemed to bounce them deep just short of the baseline, or he would send a volley right at Annacone’s feet.

McEnroe said he thought he played pretty well, and Annacone, who upset McEnroe in the 1986 U. S. Open, quickly agreed.

“Well enough to kill me,” Annacone said. “I haven’t seen him play that aggressively for a while. I was always under constant pressure. When he plays like that, he doesn’t miss very much.”

McEnroe proved he was on his game early. During the first set, he complained mildly about a few line calls, fans moving in the stands, flashbulbs and the courtside scoreboard changing during play. Other than that, it was all fairly routine.

Annacone quickly fell into a 1-4 hole but seemed to be coming back. He led, 40-30, when he gave a point away after hitting a volley wide when the linesman’s view was blocked. The game went to deuce, and McEnroe eventually broke Annacone when the latter hit an overhead into the net from the baseline.

He had no choice but to give away the point, Annacone said, which didn’t make a difference, anyway.

“It would have been grand theft if I had taken that point,” he said.

McEnroe, who broke Annacone’s service twice in the first set, did it twice more in the second set. And that was that.

McEnroe, who took a week off from tennis after losing to Mark Woodforde in the second round of the U. S. Open, said he is satisfied with the state of his comeback.

Where he is trying to go now, McEnroe said, no one has ever gone before.

“I don’t think there’s any point at this time to put pressure on myself,” he said. “I’m doing something that hasn’t been done before in tennis: Take time off and try to get back to the top.”

There is a different pace to his comeback than before, McEnroe said. Instead of trying to get back quickly, he said he is now taking it all a bit slower.

“I’m going to enjoy myself, and things will fall into place if I continue to work,” he said.

Next year, McEnroe plans to play in 12 to 15 tournaments spread out over a greater period of time, rather than fulfill his playing commitments in a 7- or 8-month period. This is McEnroe’s eighth tournament this year.

Annacone, a long-time McEnroe watcher, said it’s really up to the 29-year-old transplanted New Yorker to decide how his comeback ought to progress.

“Obviously, he’s a little more vulnerable now,” Annacone said. “I personally think he should play more. I know he has a full schedule--he’s married, has a family and has exhibitions and other commitments--but with him, it’s not a lack-of-ability thing.

“He’s not a stupid guy--he’s a smart guy,” Annacone said. “I’m sure he’ll figure it out.”

If McEnroe’s game is coming around to where he feels consistently comfortable, there can be only one other factor in his comeback.

“The key is mental,” he said. “As soon as I get that into a grove . . . as soon as I get into shape mentally . . .”

And when will that be?

“It’s coming,” he said.

Tennis Notes

This is the first tournament in the United States since the Open, when the Assn. of Tennis Professionals (ATP) announced its intention to form its own tour in 1990, so players have been given ATP questionnaires asking their opinions about the game. The 520-player union has said it will announce plans for its tour within three months. . . . John McEnroe’s second son, Sean Timothy, is 1 year old today. . . . Kevin Curren, seeded second, breezed into the third round with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over 18-year-old Jim Courier. Curren will play surprising Jeff Tarango in the quarterfinals. Tarango, a wild-card entry, defeated Christo Van Rensburg, 6-3, 6-3. . . .Defending champion David Pate got a scare from 17-year-old Pete Sampras of Palos Verdes. Pate won, 6-3, 7-6, although Sampras had his chances. Sampras led, 5-2 and 40-0 in the second set, but Pate eventually forced a tiebreaker. Sampras also had a 6-5 lead in the tiebreaker before losing, 8-6. Pate compared Sampras with 16-year-old Michael Chang and Courier. “He’s the most talented of them,” Pate said. “He has the game to dominate the match. He has the potential. He’s going to be a great player someday.” . . . Jim Pugh, a former UCLA player, advanced to the third round with a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Dan Goldie.