McEnroe’s Chances Not of This World

Bookmakers here figure that John McEnroe’s chances of winning Wimbledon are 50 times better than any British player, but only five times better than an alien landing on Earth this century.

Against such odds, it is an uneasy McEnroe who has returned to Wimbledon, the most famous front yard in tennis and scene of some of his greatest triumphs. At 31, Mac is back, all right, and consider the ramifications.

In 1981, it was McEnroe, 22, mowing down Bjorn Borg to end the Swedish grass king’s string of Wimbledon titles at five in succession. In 1983, McEnroe won again, showing his old zeal in besting little-known Chris Lewis of New Zealand. The next year, McEnroe, 25, won his third Wimbledon championship with alarming ease in a thoroughly dominating performance against Jimmy Connors.

Last year at 30, McEnroe reached the semifinals on the neatly trimmed grass courts of the All England Club, just as he had in his first Wimbledon appearance in 1977.

But something along the same lines this time at Wimbledon, which begins its two-week run today, may seem far-fetched in what is probably McEnroe’s last chance to win the biggest tournament in the world.

“I have to be totally committed,” McEnroe said. “But it’s up to me to give it my best shot or I won’t be around for very long.”

Ranked 10th, his lowest since returning to the tour after taking sabbaticals in 1986 and 1987, McEnroe received a generous No. 4 seeding for Wimbledon, the same as last year, when he was ranked a solid No. 4 and lost to Stefan Edberg in the semifinals.

Going into his first-round match against Brentwood’s Derrick Rostagno, ranked No. 126, McEnroe is coming off another extended leave, but McEnroe’s father does not sound worried about the prospect.

“It’s a tough first round for John, but I would think it is probably a tougher draw for Rostagno,” John McEnroe Sr. said.

McEnroe has played just one tournament since mid-February, which means that at least he should be fresh. McEnroe reached the semifinals of last week’s Stella Artois Grass Court Champions at the Queens Club, where he was aced 11 times and lost to Ivan Lendl in straight sets. That kind of pre-Wimbledon preparation could be suspect to many, although not to McEnroe’s father.

“I think he’s feeling reasonably good about things in general,” the elder McEnroe said. “I don’t think he feels in his head that 10 is where he belongs in the rankings, but he doesn’t think that No. 1 is where he belongs either. But John is certainly capable of being a factor. He wants to believe he is capable of winning it. I think John believes that.”

What McEnroe believes is not always known. What McEnroe says, he usually shares generously. After he was fined $6,500 and kicked out of the Australian Open for an on-court tirade in his fourth-round match against Mikael Pernfors, he blamed an inadequate frame of mind for his problems. McEnroe said he knows his mental preparations must be different if he is to have a chance of winning a fourth Wimbledon.

“I don’t want to be the player I’ve been for the last four years,” McEnroe said. “And that’s one who didn’t believe in himself. That’s what happened at the Australian Open. I almost beat myself.

“I saw almost right away that I was hitting the ball better than anyone, but I wasn’t mentally prepared to win a Grand Slam,” he said. “I can’t tell if (Wimbledon) is going to be too early (but) the best thing is that I’m here.”

During his latest time off, McEnroe remained busy in non-tennis activities. He was a frequent spectator at athletic events, sitting baseline for the Lakers and rinkside for the Kings. He made numerous public appearances for Nike, the athletic equipment manufacturer he endorses. He spent time with his family, wife Tatum O’Neal and young sons Kevin and Sean.

McEnroe also firmed up his homestead, selling his Carbon Beach house in Malibu for an estimated $3.7 million and moving into a new Malibu Colony house. McEnroe bought the Carbon Beach house from Johnny Carson five years ago.

Chances are, though, that events on the tennis court will prove to be no day at the beach for McEnroe. There are several factors riding on McEnroe’s outcome at Wimbledon. He risks his ranking with a poor performance, since he would lose computer points if he fails to equal last year’s semifinal showing. Last year, his record was 7-8 against top-10 players and he was 0-8 against the top three of Ivan Lendl (0-3), Edberg (0-3) and Boris Becker (0-2) in tournaments involving computer points. McEnroe did beat Lendl in a special event in Dallas.

Lendl has much to gain and much to lose as well. Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam title that has eluded him. A runner-up in 1986 and 1987 and a semifinalist the last two years, Lendl skipped the French Open and has spent most of the last five months since winning his second consecutive Australian Open title practicing on grass courts.

“Everyone is very curious how he will do this year at Wimbledon,” Edberg said. “He’s put pressure on himself by not playing that many matches the last few months. He seems to be playing well (so) it will be very interesting.”

At Queens, McEnroe impressed observers in a way he probably did not want. Reporters said McEnroe looked thicker in the thighs and slower. Meanwhile, his game remains lean.

McEnroe’s style of play, a finesse game based on touch and accuracy, seems to have isolated him from his peers. Simply, it may have fallen out of style, to be replaced by a power game controlled by the hard-hitters. McEnroe called his game a “relic from the past.” On a surface the speed of grass, the emphasis on power over touch is even more noticeable.

“Talent alone won’t win as many matches as it once did,” McEnroe said. “Now it’s how you can hit the ball harder on every point.”

Tennis Hall of Fame member Tony Trabert believes McEnroe is being done in by loosely strung rackets. In his book, “Trabert On Tennis,” Trabert said McEnroe is adept at touch volleys, but they sometimes lack depth. Power players as much as anyone love getting a swing at a short ball.

“Since he started stringing his rackets loosely--in the range of 40 pounds of tension--players are starting to overpower him,” Trabert said.

Trabert’s advice would be to string McEnroe’s racket at around 60 pounds and tell him to take a bigger swing at the ball. Instead, Trabert said McEnroe seems to just take short swings and let his racket strings sort of throw the ball backs across the net.

“I don’t know the strategy behind that type of play, but it’s easy to see that he’s being worked over by the top players that he now goes up against,” Trabert said. “While he still wins a good percentage of his matches, he doesn’t beat the top two or three players consistently enough. . . . The frustration of being unable to do this could be enough to make McEnroe give up on tennis completely.”

After losing to Lendl at Queens, 6-2, 6-4, McEnroe seemed to put a time limit on his latest comeback. “People should judge me on how I’m going in six months’ time.”

He starts again against Rostagno. Like McEnroe, Rostagno, 24, is a former Stanford star. At last year’s U.S. Open, Rostagno held two match points on Boris Becker, then lost in nearly 4 1/2 hours. Becker went on to his first U.S. Open championship. Rostagno tuned up for his McEnroe matchup at Wimbledon by playing in a grass court exhibition last week in Wirral, England.

Lendl, seeded No. 1 for the fourth time in five years but never a Wimbledon champion, plays 22-year-old Christian Miniussi of Argentina, ranked No. 117. Lendl’s draw seems relatively easy, although ninth-seeded Jim Courier is in his path. In his Wimbledon debut last year, Courier lost in the first round. Lendl’s fourth-round opponent is projected to be Henri Leconte of France.

Becker’s quarter of the draw includes Yannick Noah of France, and Brad Gilbert. Edberg, third-seeded, could play 13th-seeded Michael Chang in the fourth round.

McEnroe’s second-round opponent, should he win in the first, will be Sweden’s Peter Lundgren or England’s Jeremy Bates. Pete Sampras, a first-round loser last year, is also in McEnroe’s path. After that, well, who knows? He will play Becker in the semifinals, if seedings hold true.

“John has to be an attacker, serve well and avoid distractions,” John McEnroe Sr. said. “He’s not as young as he used to be, but who is?”

No one comes to mind right away.

Wimbledon Notes

The players’ organizations, the Assn. of Tennis Professionals Tour and the Women’s Tennis Assn., rejected an attempt to introduce independent drug testing at Wimbledon, according to the Sunday (London) Times.

The newspaper reported that the Sports Council, the British government’s sports agency, offered to conduct random tests to bring the tournament into line with other Olympic sports.

However, the players’ organizations response was that their own testing is sufficient.