Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
John McEnroe plans to return to Delray in 2018
The Delray Beach Open promises a bit more spice and personality for 2018 with the announcement Friday that Johnny Mac is back.
John McEnroe, the former world’s top-ranked men’s tennis player, known as much for his sharp tongue as 17 grand slam titles (seven in singles), will return after a five-year absence to compete in Delray’s ATP Champions Tour event, Feb. 16-18 at the Delray Beach Stadium and Tennis Center.
The legends tour event will precede the ATP World Tour tournament in the 10-day Delray Beach Open. McEnroe will head the United States team vying against an international team captained by Fernando Gonzalez of Chile for the Delray Beach Cup.
“It will be five years since my last tournament in Delray Beach, but nothing has changed,” McEnroe said in a statement. “I am working hard to bring my best tennis to the fans and show the younger guys I can still beat up on them and help my USA teammates win the competition.”
The U.S. team also includes two former champs of Delray’s ATP World Tour tournament, Mardy Fish (2009) and Jan-Michael Gambill (2001 & 2003). Gonzalez, who once ranked as high as No. 7 in the world, will be joined on the international team by former U.S. Open finalist and world No. 4 Greg Rusedski of Great Britain and Canada, and Boca Raton resident Jesse Levine of Canada.
But McEnroe is the name that will give panache to the three days that will feature seven singles and one doubles match.
The irascible lefty will play the featured second match on Friday (Feb. 16) against Rusedski at 8 p.m. following the Fish-Levine opener at 6. He will face Gonzalez in the singles Sunday matinee finale, Feb. 18 at 2:30.
McEnroe, who won 10 grand slam titles in doubles (including one in mixed) will team with Gambill against Gonzalez and Levine on Feb. 17 at 12:30 p.m.
At 58, McEnroe is one of the most insightful TV tennis commentators. He can still put on a show on the court, though he acknowledged in a New York Times story this past summer that he won’t be able to compete much longer, even on the senior tour, saying, “I’m near the end of my rope.”
But he is always eminently watchable due to the unpredictability of what he may do or say.
As recently as this past June, while promoting his latest book, “But Seriously,” McEnroe stirred a tempest throughout the tennis world when he responded to a question during an interview on NPR about whether Serena Williams should be considered the greatest tennis player of all time, regardless of gender, by saying, “If she played the men’s circuit she’d be like 700 in the world.”
More recently he panned the new “Borg vs McEnroe” movie, saying the film-makers made up stories to make him look like “a jerk.”
McEnroe has been an entertaining presence in four previous appearances at the Delray Beach Open, not only on the stadium court but in two mock-tennis exhibitions outside on nearby Atlantic Avenue when they stopped traffic for Tennis on the Avenue, in 2010 and ’11.
In the first of those, McEnroe took a playful jab at then-Delray Beach Mayor Woodie McDuffie’s weight. McDuffie took it as inspiration to get in better shape, and was nearly 45 pounds lighter the following year when he officiated as McEnroe and old rival Mats Wilander put on another jive-and-volley fest on the street.
Five years later, McEnroe is still a good bet to have a memorable impact, one way or another.
Tickets can be purchased online at Delray Beach Open Tickets, at the Delray Beach Open box office (30 NW 1st Ave.) or by calling the Box Office at 561-330-6000. All tickets purchased on-line can be printed out at home.