TENNIS : A Day for Mac and the Powers That Be : After all these years, the old guard proves it can rock ‘n’ roll with McEnroe as U.S. Davis Cup captain.

The suits with the straw hats got a little wild and crazy Wednesday morning at the U.S. Open, slowly tiptoeing out of the Jurassic Period.

It only seemed as though John McEnroe’s campaign for Davis Cup captaincy lasted through a Mesozoic Era or two, or at least since the United States Tennis Assn. has been in business, since 1881.

And wasn’t it fitting that the marriage that made the most sense--McEnroe and the captain’s position--came off only by intervention of a woman, Judy Levering, the first female president of the USTA?

All this made such sense: Think Phil Jackson and the Lakers, almost certainly the right coach for the right team at the right time. As amazing as it was to see McEnroe wearing a suit and actually being somewhat political--for him--there was an underlying, hard-to-believe theme at the National Tennis Center.

Even the USTA couldn’t make a mess of this one.

“I don’t give up easily,” McEnroe, 40, said. “I didn’t give up when I was playing. I wasn’t going to give up on the idea of being captain.

“It’s been a number of years since I last participated [in Davis Cup]--seven--but I’ve been fortunate enough to be involved in tennis in other ways, ways I didn’t expect to be involved in. . . . No, of course, I hadn’t given up.”

For years, there were the obvious concerns about McEnroe as captain: Would the USTA be hiring Bob Knight with an earring? How would his act play with the boys in Brazil or the populace in Peru? Could the USTA have Madeleine Albright’s number on speed dial to avert a possible international crisis?

Through the years, these concerns slowly faded. Mac didn’t quite become Mac Lite, but he mellowed after his marriage to singer Patty Smythe and the birth of their two daughters. Additionally, McEnroe became a respected and insightful analyst on TV, and, most telling, the onetime rebel has been embraced by cautious corporate America.

Who else was there, anyway?

The most competitive, complex and thoughtful athlete in the sport was not simply sitting there waiting for the job. He wanted it.

If you’ve turned on the TV set lately, McEnroe seems to get more commercial air time than most of the top current players. His name recognition is so high, the casual sports fan probably thinks he is still on the ATP tour.

Time has been McEnroe’s best ally in this quest.

He changed and so did the dinosaurs and so has the sport around him, needing an injection of charisma and competition for competition’s sake.

Fed Cup captain Billie Jean King lobbied for McEnroe, and she appeared to be the most pleased person in the building, other than McEnroe. King chuckled at the delicious coincidence, that the two fiercest competitors were leading the two most prestigious teams in U.S. tennis.

“So did you ever think two hotheads would ever. . . . I think it’s hysterical,” King said in an interview with a few reporters.

“He [McEnroe] and I were laughing. I’m sure some of the USTA people are turning over a little bit.”

The revolution didn’t exactly occur in a day.

“The USTA culture has changed,” she said. “I think John’s changed. I think everyone’s a little more mature. The generation that lived through the ‘60s and ‘70s was a part of change in our country, culturally with Vietnam and all that. My generation saw a lot of change.

“Change is not as difficult for us. . . . Change doesn’t scare this generation as much.

“[We] are willing to keep changing if it is better for our sport.”

McEnroe, too, needed to experience some personal growth. He was a contender for the position when Tom Gullikson was hired in 1994 but withdrew early in the process because of some personal difficulties, coinciding with the divorce from his first wife, actress Tatum O’Neal.

“Emotionally, I was going through a difficult situation,” he said. “I wouldn’t have been as effective as I hope to be right now. I think I needed some time away from the game. Time away from things sometimes gives you appreciation for what you don’t have and what you want to be a part of.

“I think we both changed, and hopefully both changed for the better. That’s the plan.”

McEnroe called Wednesday one of the “proudest moments of my life.” His parents and wife were at the packed news conference. He spent about an hour and a half holding court with reporters, tackling a variety of topics.

On whether he needs to control himself in the new job:

“Have you seen me curse on the air?” McEnroe asked. “It’s a lot easier to keep control if you’re not the one playing. I paid the price for the things I said when I did lose control.”

Of course, McEnroe knows it will be a constant battle with his old dark side. He had a two-word answer when he was asked what kind of advice he thought he would have received from the late Arthur Ashe?

McEnroe smiled.

“Calm down,” he said.