John McEnroe`s highly touted comeback was history in 2 hours 26 minutes Tuesday. And even McEnroe hinted he may not re-emerge for a while.
”It`s just not there right now and there`s just not much sense in pretending that it is,” said the man who sat atop the tennis world for five years straight.
After losing his first-round match at the U.S. Open to Paul Annacone 6-1, 1-6, 3-6, 3-6, McEnroe walked to the sidelines rapidly, donned his warm-up jacket and left the court with eyes downcast while his opponent raised his fists and exulted. Clearly, the loss was unnerving to the four-time Open winner.
”It really hasn`t sunk in yet,” McEnroe said moments afterward. ”You know, it changes things because I didn`t really expect this.”
Neither did his opponent, but he didn`t discount the possibility either.
”My brother (Steve) and my coach (Mike DePalmer) have been telling me I don`t have to play the best match of my life to win (Tuesday),” said a serious-looking Annacone. ”They said I just have to play well, because McEnroe`s in a rebuilding stage. I wasn`t so sure. But I found out midway through the third set that that was exactly the case.”
It wasn`t until midway through the third set that Annacone became aware that McEnroe seemed confused–and that he, himself, was serving about as well as he ever had.
First, the confusion. That became obvious when, down 2 games to 1 in the third set, Mac appeared to give the next game away by slapping a shot almost casually into the net at game point. Unlike the Mac of old, who`d scratch and claw for each point, he seemed resigned to losing that game.
McEnroe`s concentration waxed and waned throughout the match. He double-faulted 9 times to Annacone`s 4 and made 30 unforced errors to Annacone`s 12. He rarely showed the timing or the brilliant shotmaking that had been his trademark.
And now, about Annacone`s serve. He nailed a staggering 23 aces, 10 of them in the final set. McEnroe had 3.
McEnroe`s poor display actually saddened Annacone, who told Mac as he passed him in the corridor on his way to the interview room that he was sorry about the loss. ”I am sorry that he lost and I want to see him come back because I think he`s great for tennis,” Annacone said. ”I wish the best for him.”
McEnroe had a loose theory for why he came up short. ”I think that when I came back, I worked too hard,” he said. ”I overworked myself, and the mistake was that after that first tournament in Vermont, the emotion and everything, I just felt a big letdown.” But he seemed more perplexed than convinced of that theory`s validity.
Especially since he`d beaten Annacone last week at an exhibition in Jericho, N.Y., called the Hamlet Cup. ”It`s just that I wasn`t able to keep it up (today), and he played better,” McEnroe said. ”I mean that`s the old adage. On a given day, anything can happen, and it did.”
Certainly, it was a day to remember for Annacone, who admitted: ”I`ve been ranked in the top 20 for the last seven, eight months, but probably 90 percent of the people don`t know who I am.”
A little history, then. The 6-1 right-hander was a two-time All-America at Tennessee. He turned pro in 1982 and ended the year ranked 389th. In 1984, he ranked 94th. In 1985, he ranked 13th.
Said Annacone on Tuesday: ”Beating John McEnroe center court at the U.S. Open is quite a thrill. The biggest for me so far.”
Is the thrill gone for McEnroe? ”That`s something I have to look at,”
he said. ”You know, look at myself in the mirror and ask myself that question because so far it certainly hasn`t seemed to have been there a whole lot.”
