Gorman Steps Down as Davis Cup Captain : Tennis: After eight years, his last match will be against Bahamas. McEnroe wants the job.

Tom Gorman has one foot out the door, so is John McEnroe destined to replace him as Davis Cup captain?

McEnroe said again Thursday night that he still covets the job.

“Did I ever say I didn’t want it?” McEnroe said. “Sure, I’m interested. Nobody has asked me. Isn’t everybody interested--except Jimmy (Connors), I mean?”

Gorman turned in his resignation as Davis Cup captain here Thursday, effective at the end of the year. His last match as captain will be Sept. 26-28 when the United States plays the Bahamas in the relegation round in Charlotte, N.C.

McEnroe later said on the USA network, for whom he works as a tennis analyst, that Gorman had made the proper decision.

“I think it was a very class thing that Tom Gorman did today,” McEnroe said. “I think he made a good decision, though. He said it was time to move on and do some other things.”

McEnroe also hinted that Gorman might not have been asked back anyway.

“I think he made the decision for the (U.S. Tennis Assn.) easier,” McEnroe said.

J. Howard (Bumpy) Frazer, president of the USTA, announced Gorman’s resignation at a news conference at the U.S. Open.

Frazer said a decision on Gorman’s successor will not be made until after the match against the Bahamas. He refused to speculate on candidates and when asked specifically about McEnroe’s chances, offered his standard reply:

“John McEnroe has been the greatest contributor to Davis Cup in modern times. And certainly he is a candidate to be the captain.”

Other potential successors are Stan Smith, the USTA’s director of coaching in the junior development program; Federation Cup captain Marty Riessen and Brad Gilbert.

Gorman’s eight-year tenure yielded Davis Cup titles in 1990 and 1992, and a record 17 victories.

Gorman said he did not decide to quit until after he had spent five days thinking about it and decided he had achieved his goals.

Gorman said he was not forced out and deferred any questions about a possible successor to Frazer.

For nearly a year, McEnroe has made no secret of his desire to replace Gorman. But McEnroe’s status seemed to have eroded when he blasted Gorman and Smith in an interview with The Times this spring.

At the time, McEnroe said that retaining Gorman for a ninth year would be “a joke” and that foot-dragging by the USTA about making him the new captain was making the job less attractive.

McEnroe also had sharply criticized Gorman for failing to pick the right team to play in March at Australia, a match the United States lost, and for doing little coaching when the United States defeated Switzerland in the 1992 final at Ft. Worth.

Said McEnroe, who had played in that victory: “I was coaching. . . . It wasn’t like (Gorman) was doing anything.”

McEnroe also blasted Smith’s credentials, saying, “I think he would stink. He’s totally out of touch. All he talks about is himself. He’s a complete joke.”

Smith said he is familiar with the U.S. Davis Cup players because they came through the junior program of the USTA.

When asked Thursday whether McEnroe’s comments were a factor in stepping down, Gorman said McEnroe was just speaking out at an emotional time.

“No doubt about it. I mean, it wasn’t the greatest thing in the world to be seeing that in the paper,” Gorman said. “But I have talked to John and I think we have straightened that out.”