February 22nd, 2007
John McEnroe turned 48 last week, but you would never have guessed by the way he played on day one of the BlackRock Tour of Champions event in Belfast.
So impressive was the American in a 6-2, 6-3 defeat of Jeremy Bates, that his opponent was moved to describe McEnroe’s performance as the best he had ever encountered.
“We have played five or six times over the years and that’s the best he has ever played against me,” said Bates.
“Every other time we have played I have won a set and it has been close, but I think I had one break point the whole match and for me that is unusual because my return is the best part of my game. I was serving well too but it was coming back with interest.”
McEnroe was quietly content with the way he played, and well aware that there would be stern tests to come.
“I was very sharp,” said McEnroe, who will meet Henri Leconte on Friday and then Cedric Pioline on Saturday.
“You want to save the best for last, but considering the last tournament I played was the BlackRock Masters in London in December, today was better than I could have expected.”
Both players were impressed with the Odyssey Arena and the crowds that came to witness them perform.
“The people were excited, and that’s nice,” said McEnroe, whose father has come over with him to the tournament.
“I’ve looked forward to coming here. I want to play well and give everyone their monies’ worth.”
For Bates, the arena compares favourable with anything he has witnessed around the world.
“It’s an awesome place to play tennis,” said Bates.
“I’ve played in lots of arenas in world tennis and it compares well with the best. And the people are so happy to have us here. We get a good welcome wherever we go, but everyone I meet says ‘Welcome to Northern Ireland, it’s so good to have you here’. It’s really nice.”
Elsewhere, Wayne Ferreira overcame Carl-Uwe Steeb 6-2, 6-2, Cedric Pioline defeated Leconte 6-3, 6-4 and Anders Jarryd beat Pat Cash 6-4, 6-2.
The tournament is played using a round-robin format, with matches contested over the best of three sets. If the score is level at one set all, the third set will be decided by a Champions’ Tie-Break. The first player to reach 10 points or lead by a margin of two thereafter, is the winner.
