McEnroe’s Moment Is Delayed by Rain

John McEnroe is one match away from the Wimbledon final, which is, well, what would you call it, John?

“This beautiful moment,” he said.

Meanwhile, Wimbledon paused again for a wet moment Friday. As rain spilled off the covered courts, McEnroe made a brief appearance in the tunnel at Court 1 and waved to the drenched fans, who began chanting his name.

McEnroe meets Andre Agassi in a rain-delayed semifinal match, which is rescheduled for today, and doesn’t exactly expect similar chanting from Agassi. McEnroe said he isn’t buying Agassi’s comments that it’s an honor to play him.

“I think that’s sort of a gimmick, you know, ‘We are really honored to play him and we’d like to kick his (butt),’ ” McEnroe said. “That’s garbage.

“He’s going to be very honored to play me, but, if by some chance I win, he won’t be so happy.”

The other semifinal features Pete Sampras and Goran Ivanisevic, two 20-year-old big-servers who are just happy to be here. They could have spent the rain delay counting their aces, which number 133 for Ivanisevic and 87 for Sampras.

McEnroe’s ranking has slid from No. 4 in 1989 to No. 13 in 1990 to No. 28 in 1991 to No. 30 this year, but his performance in his 14th Wimbledon has made believers out of more than a few.

Among them is Agassi, who nevertheless likes his own chances.

“Let me put it this way: There’s probably a chance he wishes he hasn’t been practicing with me quite as much as he has,” Agassi said.

McEnroe has been getting help too. He said Larry Stefanki’s coaching has worked wonders for his serve, as has looking at old videotapes.

“I never really had bothered to look back on that,” McEnroe said. “I kept thinking that I would get it together. I just thought that’s always been a natural aspect of my game, and it took like three to six months, but now, this is the key moment, where all of a sudden the windup and leg strength has improved.”