The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
Auriemma, McEnroe meet in New Haven
NEW HAVEN >> The featured events of a Friday evening at the Connecticut Tennis Center took place before thousands on Stadium Court. Petra Kvitova and Caroline Wozniaki, two of the top five players in the world, competed in a Connecticut Open semifinal followed by John McEnroe and Jim Courier in a men’s legend’s exhibition.
The most interesting scenes took place a few hours earlier, witnessed by only a handful of spectators on an indoor court at Yale. To wit: Courier, upon being introduced to Geno Auriemma before the two participated in a pro-am event at the Cullman-Heyman indoor facility, told the U-Conn women’s basketball coach the NCAA obviously doesn’t drug test coaches.
“You’re jacked up!” Courier said.
“My secret is wine, a little olive oil,” replied an amused Auriemma. “And good DNA.”
Moments later, there was
McEnroe, searching for a fourth to fill out his doubles match with Auriemma and Yale women’s tennis player Carol Finke. He spotted a tall gentleman with wild hair and giant white eyeglass frames who just happens to be an international recording artist.
“Redfoo!” McEnroe yelled. “Get over here!”
Auriemma, who says he hasn’t played competitive tennis in 30 years, had called Connecticut Open tournament director Anne Worcester for tickets to Friday’s women’s semifinals and the match between Courier and McEnroe, his favorite player in the 1970s and 80s.
Worcester invited him to hit a few balls with McEnroe beforehand.
“Stupid me agreed to do this,” Auriemma said afterward, sweat dripping from his brow. “Go out and hit balls for 15 minutes. That’s not hitting balls. That’s having balls hit at you.”
The friendly match got a tad testy shortly after Finke, playing with Auriemma, whistled a few overhead-slam winners between McEnroe and Redfoo. You don’t become a hall of fame talent in basketball or tennis without a competitive streak, and it quickly became clear neither one of these Type-A personalities wanted to lose.
Before the brief match was over, Auriemma was bickering with McEnroe over service calls and, after a mishit, telling Redfoo to “serve it right.” Later, when his team came storming back from the early deficit, McEnroe spotted Auriemma limping and accused him of feigning injury.
“I’m 61,” Auriemma said, stretching his leg muscles. “When you’re 61 you’re not faking your way out.”
Of course, when it was over, there were no lingering hard feelings. Just handshakes and smiles and deference to the other’s greatness, with a few sly digs. McEnroe said after all of Auriemma’s championships and undefeated seasons, he was happy to beat him at something.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t want to remind him what our record is against Stanford,” Auriemma said. McEnroe attended Stanford and won an NCAA singles title there. “He can talk all he wants right now, because he’s a lot better than me at this game.”
The will to win never fades, even in retirement, for professional athletes. Two weeks ago, McEnroe, 56 and 23 years retired from the ATP Tour, caused a stir during a late-night TV appearance. Jimmy Kimmel asked who would win a serious match between McEnroe and Serena Williams.
“I believe that I can still take her,” McEnroe said with a smile.
He’s since backed down from that comment. Sort of. He says he was only answering a direct question and any discussion of a half-baked battle of the sexes trivializes Serena’s quest for a calendar Grand Slam.
Though still trim and playing regularly for recreation, McEnroe, as he approaches 60, is slowly whittling down appearances like his match with Courier on Friday night. He played 10 nights on Courier’s PowerShares Series, a six-week men’s senior tour. After Friday, he says he won’t play again for another month.
The abbreviated schedule only heightens McEnroe’s thirst for the few major tennis dates on his calendar.
“My competitive juices always flow,” he said during a pre-match press conference with Courier. “I don’t step on the court that often. A match like this is way more meaningful for me than it appears. I don’t know how many more matches like this I’ll do. I think less is more in a way as you get older. It allows me time to mentally and physically train and get ready and feel like I’m going a give it my best shot, convince myself that I can actually play a little bit.”
“Message?” Courier said. “McEnroe pumped up, ready to go.”
Even if it’s a friendly match with an iconic, equally driven woman’s basketball coach. But a win is a win.