U.S. Davis Cup Loss Leaves McEnroe Feeling Blank

This was not the line John McEnroe wanted on his Davis Cup resume.

His first year as the U.S. captain concluded with a 5-0 loss to Spain in the Davis Cup semifinals Sunday at the Real Sociedad de Tenis. This was the first time the United States lost a match, 5-0, before the finals. They have lost, 5-0, on seven other occasions, but those have always been in the Davis Cup final.

Spain’s Juan Carlos Ferrero made it 4-0 when he defeated Vince Spadea, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4, and Juan Balcells completed the shutout with his 1-6, 7-6 (2), 6-4, victory over Jan-Michael Gambill.

Balcells was particularly inspired, diving twice for volleys in the final game.

McEnroe was out of the area well before the fans quit cheering. He spoke, hours later, from a car on his way to the airport in Bilbao, Spain.

“I’m totally spent. I’m deflated. It was tough and it was tough for everybody,” McEnroe said. “I feel like I’m going to throw up. I’m not sure if it’s emotional or what, but I’m about to heave.”

Spain’s captain, Javier Duarte, had some perceptive observations.

“McEnroe is a tennis man, we know what he is,” Duarte said. “But he’s getting the wrong ideas about things and how things are going. If you are the protagonist, if you are No. 1, fantastic. But when you are a captain that has not played for seven years, you have to stick to the point and fight for your team and that’s it.”

Duarte thought the withdrawals of Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi ate away at McEnroe, who said Saturday that neither player called to offer the team support. “Personally, I think he was angry about Sampras and Agassi,” Duarte said.

“It’s very difficult to have Sampras and Agassi. I mean, these people are very complicated. So it’s a difficult situation anyway, but I think he is feeling more awful for that. Perhaps more than the defeat.”