Davis Cup Journal: Day 1 
Agassi, Sampras, and McEnroe Together Again

by John Yandell

I’ve never been a huge Davis Cup fan, or at least not for some time. Not since McEnroe led the U.S. to the last of his 5 Davis Cup titles. In case you don’t remember it, John and Pete Sampras played one of the greatest doubles matches of all time versus Switzerland in that last final. 

The thing is, I just never understood all that jingoism. Playing for your country. Us versus them. I never did get it. I grew up with the Vietnam War seeing the pitfalls of that kind of thinking. But I do understand the incredible virtues of tennis as a team sport. I played on elite, championship tennis teams in high school and I’ve never forgotten the positive emotion of that experience. It’s something you just can’t get in tournaments, or anywhere else for that matter. McEnroe’s Davis Cup matches (like so many of his matches) were just so damn emotionally compelling. 

Can Mac relight the fire in  Davis Cup?

There hasn’t been that kind of giant voyeuristic payoff for long while in Davis Cup. The big US victory in Russia when Pete collapsed after match point, yeah, but the press doesn’t really understand the quiet, smoldering intensity of a player like Pete. So there just wasn’t the compelling drama.  

But that’s changing now along with the team chemistry. And that’s why I’m here in LA. John McEnroe is back in Davis Cup, and so is the emotion. Why else would I be sitting here the day of the draw watching Pete Sampras practice with Andy Roddick, the number 1 American junior? Yeah, sure it’s fun to watch, but drive all the way to LA for it? And think of it as the edge of something important and historic about to unfold in the next 3 days? 

It’s probably not going too far to say McEnroe single-handedly recreated this expectation. Tomorrow there’ll be about 16,000 people at the LA Forum. McEnroe spent 10 minutes on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno talking about nothing but Davis Cup. Thanks to John we all know about the miracle in Zimbabwe. There’s a palpable buzz in the Forum. Everyone just seems to feel something important is happening. 

For example, the press conference draw: Pete and Andre and Jared Palmer and Alex O’Brien all on the daises. That’s a pretty good group for the world tennis press to take a shot at. McEnroe’s doing some other TV interview, so Pete and Andre get some questions—the two best players in the world, both clever and deft with the press. Pete particularly never gets credit for his dry wit. A reporter asks Andre how he can play Davis Cup with his big rival, Pete. Andre looks puzzled and reminds the reporter they are on the same team. 

Then John comes in. He sits in the middle with his lower lip curled in an inverted U-shape like a kid on the verge of tears. He looks so intense. And pretty soon, the questions are all going to him. If you’ve been at press conferences in tennis, it’s very rare to have 5 or 6 reporters all shouting “John, John,” but that’s what’s happening.

”How is it you can be captain with your reputation for controversy?” some earnest reporter wants to know. And McEnroe with one of his patented retorts: “It’s obvious you haven’t spent much time with me lately.”  It’s that combination or truth and sarcasm, that just has to make you laugh. 

He talks about his kids—how raising 6 kids has humbled him. You get the feeling he really REALLY means that—not necessarily that he wanted it to happen, but that he’s still glad for the experience. His goal for the Davis Cup, “Try not to be a distraction, and exert some kind of positive influence.” 

On the way out I see my old friend Mary Carillo. “He still gets all the questions doesn’t he?” I say. She smiles and nods, “Yep.” 

I go out for a couple of hours and come back to watch the end of practice. Jared Palmer and Alex O’Brien are playing—and the opponents—Todd Martin and John McEnroe. McEnroe serves well, volleys well—as good and probably better than the other 3 on the volleys. He hits a couple of brilliant returns, misses some others pretty badly, and has couple get crushed by poaches. One pass drilled at O’Brien comes back for a winner. “You bastard!” then “Nice shot.” You know he means both. I’m thinking if he played a lot with these guys he’d do fine.