Sacramento loses legends tournament

James Blake, 34, beat John McEnroe, 55, to win the Champions
Shootout in Sacramento in February. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Professional tennis in Northern California suffered another blow last week when Sacramento lost its legends tournament after one year.
   The capital was omitted from next spring's PowerShares Series schedule of one-night tournaments in 12 North American cities.
   The Champions Shootout follows the departures of the SAP Open in San Jose and Sacramento Capitals of WorldTeam Tennis.
   The SAP Open was replaced on the ATP World Tour calendar in February by Rio de Janeiro after 125 years in the San Francisco Bay Area.
   Also in February, the Capitals announced they were moving to Las Vegas after 28 years in Sacramento. Instead, the franchise folded after owner Deepal Wannakuwatte was charged with defrauding investors in his medical supply business of more than $100 million. He was sentenced last month to 20 years in prison.
   NorCal still has the Bank of the West Classic at Stanford on the WTA tour; men's Challengers in Aptos, Napa, Sacramento and Tiburon; and women's Challengers in Gold River in the Sacramento area and Redding.
   James Blake, 34, won the Champions Shootout at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento in February, defeating 55-year-old International Tennis Hall of Famer John McEnroe 6-3 in the final. Blake was only six months removed from playing on the ATP World Tour.
   Hall of Famers Pete Sampras and Jim Courier lost in the semifinals of the four-man tournament, which drew an announced crowd of 2,460 at the home of the NBA's Sacramento Kings.
   The 2015 PowerShares Series will begin March 24 in Salt Lake City and end May 2 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Set to compete are five Hall of Famers -- Sampras, McEnroe, Courier, Andre Agassi and Michael Chang -- likely future Hall of Famer Andy Roddick and former top-10 players Blake and Mark Philippoussis.

John McEnroe Q&A: U.S. tennis needs athletes

John McEnroe talked to reporters at the Champions Shootout
in Sacramento in late February. Photos by Paul Bauman

   John McEnroe may be a nightmare for chair umpires, but he's a dream for journalists.

   Talkative, knowledgeable, outspoken and funny, McEnroe long has been perhaps the best interview in sports. Just ask a question, sit back and enjoy the show. 
   Before playing in the Champions Shootout on Feb. 26 in Sacramento, McEnroe fielded questions from a small group of reporters in the bowels of Sleep Train Arena. At one point, a public relations man implored the journalists, "Just a couple more minutes with John." Eleven and a half minutes later, McEnroe was still going strong. If the PR guy hadn't cut off the interview to usher McEnroe to another appointment, the legend would have happily continued holding court.
   Shortly afterward, McEnroe took the court.  In the one-set semifinals, he defeated Jim Courier, and James Blake topped Pete Sampras. Blake then beat McEnroe in the one-set final.
   McEnroe grew up in New York, but the left-handed wizard is no stranger to Northern California. He won the 1978 NCAA singles title in his only year at Stanford and captured five ATP singles titles in the San Francisco Bay Area, tied with Andre Agassi for the most in the Open Era (since 1968).
   Known for his shotmaking artistry and volatile temper, McEnroe won 17 Grand Slam titles (seven in singles, nine in doubles and one in mixed doubles) and played on five Davis Cup championship teams.
   McEnroe won 77 singles and 78 doubles titles overall (fourth and tied for fifth, respectively, in the Open Era) and holds U.S. Davis Cup records for total victories (59) and singles wins (41). He was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.
   McEnroe, who turned 55 on Feb. 16, looks older with his gray hair but plays remarkably well with his still-magical hands. In addition to competing against other legends in the PowerShares Series, a 12-tournament circuit in the United States in February and March, he works as a highly renowned tennis commentator for ESPN and runs a junior tennis academy in New York that he founded in 2010.
   McEnroe has five children -- three with his first wife, actress Tatum O'Neal, and two with his current wife, singer Patty Smyth -- and one stepchild.
   ESPN announced in February that McEnroe would expand his role beyond tennis on television and radio. He made headlines last December when he suggested eliminating doubles, which struggles to attract singles stars and fans, and giving the prize money to lower-ranked singles players.
   Following are highlights of the interview with McEnroe:
   Q: Can you see yourself in a coaching situation where you're traveling like Stefan Edberg (who's working with Roger Federer)?
   A: I suppose it's not impossible in a supporting role or part-time. That would be ideal.
   Q: Billie Jean King said recently that tennis is a kind of art form that shapes time and space ...
   A: That's very heavy.
   Q: You're known so much for your touch. Do you enjoy the feel of the game and the artistry of it?
   A: Yeah, of course. It's sort of what my thing was. Seeing what I see now (on the tour), it's a lot different.

   Q: Is there a real gap in the game now?
   A: Because of the rackets, the technology, the size of some of these guys and the strings ... if you have better control when you swing harder, that seems counterintuitive. But the harder you swing, the more the ball dips. Before, the harder you swung, the more chance you took.
   I don't get that, but that's the way it is, so you see guys taking crazy swings. Because the string is so stiff, you don't have that feel at the net that maybe you had. That's part of why you don't see guys coming in, in addition to the fact they hit it so much harder.
   Q: Regarding the state of the American game, there are three or four theories: the internationalization, we're not getting the athletes, the entitlement culture and cycles. What do you think is the most important?
   A: Athletes.
   Q: You're working on this a lot in New York. How can we get them from football and other sports?
   A: I think about that a lot, and I haven't come up with a good enough answer. With the women, it's different because the playing field is so much more level in tennis. Actually, the first sport maybe girls would go into is tennis. They don't play football. There's no baseball. In basketball, they get 1/50th of the money. So it seems like in tennis you would get better (female) athletes.
   Two of the best athletes in the history of women's tennis are the Williams sisters. They're so far above what I've seen. It's pure athleticism. They're learned more as time's gone on how to play.   
   Q: Does it depress you that we're so down? The Bryans said to Sam Querrey, "Hey, you got to the third round of the Australian Open," as if that were a good result.
   A: I try not to get too down or too angry, because I was somewhat of an expert on at least one of them. (We can't) pretend we don't have issues. Tennis is healthy in Europe, and there's a lot of money to be thrown around in certain parts of the world, like the Middle East and China. But that doesn't mean there's a thriving tennis community. I don't think more kids are playing. I'm pretty sure that the studies are showing there's less tennis being played. That's not a good thing to me.
   One of the reasons I did the tennis academy was I felt I had been given a lot. I've gotten better perspective, so it would be nice if I could leave the sport in a great place, too. Right now, I feel like I'm not doing a very good job.
   And then I get people asking me about this doubles thing, like (when I said the players) are slow. Then it's like, "My God, I made some great revelation. Doubles guys are slower than singles guys! Did you hear that? That's amazing!" That's what we focus on.
   (U.S. athletes choosing other sports) is a really tough thing to try to overcome. I'm willing to try anything and everything to try to figure out a way to get people to (play tennis). I was lucky. Now I look back, and I'm like, "The '70s, '80s, this is unbelievable." I was blessed to be a part of that. I look at it now, and I'm like, "I'm sorry. We have arguably the two greatest players who ever lived, and the other one (Novak Djokovic) is in there." And yet, we're sort of, "Where are we right now?"
   Q: You have so much going -- the new ESPN thing and your incredible play as a senior ... 
   A: (You could be) my PR guy.

   Q: Just talk about being John McEnroe.
   A: Being John McEnroe is pretty good. I've been pretty lucky that my second wife helped make me a better person, blessed me with a couple more kids, been the glue with my other kids and helped me be a good husband and father.
   It's an ego trip in a way. Let's face it. I come out here, and it's 2,000 or 5,000 or 6,000 people, and I get a chance after just turning 55 to try to do my thing. Obviously, it's better (to play) a set or short period of time. If one of us can inspire a couple kids, we've won in that way. So we have an excuse because we're sort of searching and trying to keep some interest, and we get our egos massaged a bit.
   I like having a tennis academy. I like to get out there and play with the kids. I've always been a big sports fan, (but) my main goal with this ESPN thing is to get people to want to talk tennis a lot. In the meantime, I'm no expert on other sports, but I know something about what it's like to be out there. I just love sports in general, so it would be nice to spread my wings a little bit. We'll see what happens.
   Q: But your role is not necessarily commentating about tennis. You're doing other things.
   A: Having me at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open was probably more important than whether I did a stint on "First Take." At the same time, it would be fun to do some of this other stuff. But there are other (tennis) events. We'll see if I get mixed into Australia. Hopefully, at some point that will work for both of us and tennis. We'll do everything we can. They have a lot of coverage of tennis.
   There are different ways of doing it. I don't want to be at every tournament, and they've got other guys. They've got my brother (Patrick).   
   Q: Will Rafael Nadal, who has 13 Grand Slam singles titles at age 27, eventually break Federer's record of 17 and go down as the greatest player of all time?
   A: I don't know. Once he loses the French -- he may never lose one at this point -- but if he does, it'll be tough to win another, even if he's Rafa Nadal, because of that edge you get. And then health is an issue. But if he stays healthy and he's still into it ... there's a very, very short list of people who can beat him on clay, maybe one that I see right now. That would be (Novak) Djokovic. I don't know about Stan "The Man" Wawrinka on clay, although Stan "The Man" pulled it off in Australia.
   That would be a story that hopefully people will find interesting that we can talk about, because that's a legitimate question. There's a definite argument. I remember when I said Nadal has a real argument to be the greatest player ever, and after he lost in the first round at Wimbledon (last year), people said, "What are you talking about? How can you even say that?" And now, it doesn't look quite as bad. All of a sudden, it looks a little more feasible.
   Q: Does Nadal at least have to tie Federer?
   A: I wouldn't say he has to tie, because he has such a one-sided head-to-head (23-10). I would be pretty pleased with either one of those guys. ... One person says it's Nadal, and the other guy says it's Federer. It's like, "My god, I'd be happy to be talked about in that light."
   Q: The dominance over Federer is amazing, plus (Nadal's) singles gold medal in the 2008 Olympics ...
   A: And (four) Davis Cups. No one cares about Davis Cup. Well, to me it meant something. I'd like to be mentioned as part of five Davis Cup (championship) teams or whatever, but I don't sit there and go, "How dare they not say I won five Davis Cups?"
   Then they say I'm short-changing doubles. I'm the one guy that played doubles. That's the funny part. It's like, "McEnroe attacks doubles." No one gives a rat's ass (about doubles), and all of a sudden, I try to say, "Well, we've got to do something here."
   Q: What gives you more pride, being a singles player, doubles player, commentator or senior player?
   A: The combination is pretty good. I hate to say this -- this is going to ruin the story -- but singles. As much as I love doubles, I would go with singles. 

Jim Courier Q&A: "30 minutes of terror"

Jim Courier, an International Tennis Hall of Famer and the United
States' Davis Cup captain, talks with reporters before playing in the
recent Champions Shootout in Sacramento. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Jim Courier is tennis' Renaissance man.
   This, after all, is the guy who:
   --Read Armistead Maupin's novel "Maybe the Moon" during changeovers in the 1993 ATP Championships.
   --Gave his victory speech in French after winning Roland Garros.
   --Wears a suit rather than a customary warmup during Davis Cup matches as the United States' captain (Davis Cup lingo for coach).
   --Mentioned not only Pablo Picasso but Jackson Pollock in a recent interview.
   Apparently, Courier has been reading more books in the past 20 years. If there were an award for Best Vocabulary by a Sports Figure, he would win handily. When is the last time an athlete or ex-athlete used words such as "microcosm," "trepidation," "conduit," "palette" and "amorphous" in a chat with reporters?
   Not bad for someone who skipped college and turned professional out of Nick Bollettieri's tennis boot camp in Bradenton, Fla., where he roomed with the more promising Andre Agassi. All three -- Bollettieri, Agassi and Courier -- wound up in the International Tennis Hall of Fame (Bollettieri will be inducted in July).
   With his inside-out forehand, baseball-style two-handed backhand and fierce determination, Courier won two French Open and two Australian Open singles crowns, climbed to No. 1 in the world in 1992 and played on two Davis Cup championship teams. He's one of only three American men (with Don Budge and Agassi) to appear in all four Grand Slam singles finals.
   These days, in addition to handling his Davis Cup duties, Courier works as a tennis broadcaster and plays on the seniors circuit he founded 10 years ago.
   Still fit at 43 with wavy, strawberry blond hair parted down the middle, Courier could pass for a teenager. Although he can be testy because he doesn't suffer fools gladly, Courier was candid, colorful, cordial and -- sorry to spoil the alliteration -- self-deprecating during a session with a handful of reporters before facing John McEnroe in last month's Champions Shootout in Sacramento.

   Following are highlights of the interview:
  Q: What's trickier, being the interviewer or the interviewee?
  A: Oh, you guys have the hard job. You have to think of the questions, and I have to react to them (tonight). I can definitely sympathize. It's about 30 minutes of terror before a match ends in Australia if I'm getting ready to interview someone (on the court).
   Q: How much pressure is the on-court interview?
   A: The pressure is on the players. We're talking about a microcosm of what they're dealing with, but within the broadcast space, that's the toughest thing because it's a high-wire act. I'm out there (in front of) 15,000 fans. That's primarily who the player is talking to, but I also have producers who want certain things. I have people criticizing me because I'm asking fluffy questions.
   I'm trying to the give the players an opportunity to show more of their personality early in the tournament, then when we get later in the tournament, it gets more serious, and I have to respect that we're in the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam or the semifinals and try to get something that's more pertinent to the match and scenario and history that we're witnessing.
   I hate it, honestly. I hate it. But I know it's something that I'm there to do and I'm expected to do. I do it with trepidation and fear because it's a YouTube moment waiting to happen.
   Q: Was the Aussie crowd receptive to you? Sometimes it seems they favor their own local people.
   A: I'm probably not the person to ask. They're not there to listen to me; they're there to listen to the players. I'm just a conduit. If I'm doing my job right, I'm representing what the audience wants to find out. If I ask a stupid question, I will hear it -- and I have heard it, because I ask at least a couple a year.
   Q: Example?
   A: We're in Rod Laver Arena this year, and Rod Laver is sitting right above me. I (had) read that the arena in Basel (Switzerland) is the Roger Federer Arena. So I look it up on the Internet -- which is infallible, as you know -- to confirm it, and Wikipedia says it is. Then I go on the court and present that to (Federer) and say, 'Hey, this is Rod Laver's building. You get to play in your building in Basel,' and he quickly corrects me, and the crowd whistles a little bit, and you feel like an idiot. And you are for believing the Internet.  
   Q: Billie Jean King said the other day that tennis is an art form that shapes time and space. You've hit a million tennis balls. Do you enjoy the art of the game?

Courier slugs his trademark baseball-style
backhand during the Champions Shootout.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   A: I'll be facing an artist across the net tonight, in all seriousness. Johnny Mac has a broad palette. My artistic sensibilities are a little more Jackson Pollock than Picasso. I'm an athlete. I do what I can with what I have. I'm not a classically trained tennis player, and as a result, I'm limited in what I'm able to do.
   John is the other end of that spectrum. He's truly someone who does change the geometry on the tennis court. What's beautiful about our sport is not just the one-on-one combat but the different ways each individual approaches tennis to achieve the same goal.
   I was asked the other night, 'Who do you like watching the most among the current players?' I don't think I'm alone in feeling like Federer is one who makes it look easier than I ever dreamed. I also love the smash-mouth tennis of (Rafael) Nadal, because I can relate to what he does a lot more, but I can appreciate Federer. 
   Q: We've had (Stefan) Edberg, and we've had (Lew) Hoad, but is Federer the most graceful, the most beautiful of the elite champions? 
   A: I wasn't lucky enough to see Hoad play a lot. Edberg certainly is in that class. The thing with Federer is that he doesn't even make noise when he plays. He doesn't grunt; his feet barely squeak in an era where these players are moving more than anyone ever had to on surfaces that are very audio-friendly. We get a lot of noise. He's the most beautiful player in the men's game that I've ever seen.
   Q: Will we ever see serve-and-volley tennis again?
   A: If conditions change, if the courts get quicker and (the ball stays) lower, allowing serve-and-volleyers to excel and make it more difficult for (opponents) to swing hard at balls because they're getting on them quicker and lower, then yes. It would take (indoor) tournaments like we used to see in the Bay Area and Philadelphia where it was low-bouncing and quick and virtually impossible to succeed at the baseline, as you'll see if you look at my record.
   Q: What's the role of luck in tennis? Would the result have changed if there hadn't been that rain delay in the French Open? (Courier defeated Agassi 3-6, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4 in the 1991 final. Agassi had a break point for 4-1 in the second set when play was postponed. As Sports Illustrated reported: "During the short precipitation delay, Courier was advised by his new coach, Jose Higueras, to move 10 feet behind the baseline, the better to retrieve Agassi's bullets and to work his way into rallies.")
   A: If you have a long enough career, luck has a more limited impact. Over time, things don't necessarily balance out, but they come closer to that. Where I -- and I'm sure most competitors -- am guilty is seeing things unfairly. Someone else got more luck than we did, and maybe we don't see when we're lucky.  
   There's no question that in my first major final, I needed luck. I was going to be three sets and out if it didn't rain because I couldn't think clearly and I needed a coaching break. I got lucky. There's no other way to describe it. Now, what I did with that moment and how I was able to take what Jose Higueras said and transform it into results speaks to what I was capable of.
   I'm proud of that reaction, but I don't know if I would have ever won a major if I had lost in three sets in my first major. It took Andy Murray (four) tries to get through the finish line, and he's a terrific player, as we all know.
   Q: Can you think of an unlucky moment in your career?
   A: If I could go back and put Hawkeye on the tennis court, there's one shot I'd like to know whether it was in or out. That was set point (for Courier) against Pete (Sampras) in the second-set tiebreaker at Wimbledon (in 1993). He hit a shaky forehand volley behind me, and it landed possibly on the line, possibly out, and they called it good. That was at 6-5 in that tiebreak, and I ended up losing that tiebreak [and the match 7-6 (3), 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-3]. You just never know. Pete said after that match that he was sick to his stomach and he couldn't eat. Maybe I would have been able to tough him out and win Wimbledon, which would have been a dream come true.   

Courier interviews Roger Federer during the 2012
Australian Open. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Q: With Stanislas Wawrinka winning the Australian Open and Murray winning two Slams, is this golden era ending, this incredible dominance of three guys?
   A: I think the Big Three/Big Four era -- now that Murray has become a part of that -- is at the very tail end, at the least. Wawrinka's win should signal to the others that they can break through. He beat two of those guys (Novak Djokovic and Nadal). Whatever Rafa's injury issue was, Novak didn't have that problem, and (Wawrinka) beat him in a big moment. When someone puts their hand up and says, 'I'm ready to take that on,' it's like a green light for the rest of the field.
   I'm not ready to give up that Big Four era because I feel like we've been lucky to witness it. It's been amazing; the matches have been incredible. (The Big Four) are still going to be there, but I don't think they're going to dominate the way they did.  
   Q: Grigor Dimitrov, Milos Raonic, Jerzy Janowicz, Ernests Gulbis ... who is most likely to make the next move?
   A: It's too soon to tell.
   Q: Is 22, 23 the new 19?
   A: It's funny. I had some free time today at the hotel, and I'm getting ready to do TV in (Indian Wells), so I'm sort of getting my head around what I want to talk about. I went through the rankings, and I was looking for teenagers. The first one I found was (Australian) Nick Kyrgios (pronounced KEER-ee-ose), who's north of 150. You look for other teenagers in the top 400, and there are only eight. There were often 15 to 20 teenagers in the top 100 when I was growing up and playing, so it's changed significantly.
   So, yeah, 23, 24 seems to be where you're starting to get a look at what these players will be as opposed to what they are or have been. It's a different time, but short of Janowicz's (semifinal) run at Wimbledon last year, we haven't seen those guys make a deep, deep, deep run. Until they get there and show us what they're like when the spotlight hits them, it's hard to know.
   It's clear who has talent, and those guys you named all do. But talent is amorphous, right? You just don't know what's going to happen when pressure hits talent. Then you see what that chemical reaction is.
   Q: What's the best advice you've gotten during your career?
   A: I'm often asked this by parents of juniors or players who are trying to move to the next level. I got some incredible advice from Jose Higueras that's so meaningful yet simple, which is why he's such a great coach. He makes it easy for you to understand. He said simply, 'It counts the same whether you hit a winner or the other player makes an error.'
   I had such a force-based game -- particularly when I was raw, when I came to him -- and I would often punch myself out of matches. I wasn't willing to let other players miss. Jose opened up the other side of the court for me. I began to understand for the first time what other players do -- what they do well and what they don't do well -- and where you can wait for a mistake as opposed to taking a risk.
   He basically was the first one to speak to the math of the sport to me and understand how to shift the percentages to my side. That's a real small nugget, but it's an ever-important one, particularly for an offensive-minded player.
   Q: Was it as satisfying to win a point with an error as it was a winner?
   A: The Davis Cup guys have fun at my expense. Whenever there's a new player around, they pull up this YouTube of me playing Edberg in our second Aussie Open final. Edberg double-faults to give me the break of serve at 4-all in the fourth, and I just screamed, "Yesss!" There's your answer. From a sportsmanship standpoint, it's maybe not a highlight of mine, but it speaks to that (question).
   Q: What is your takeaway from the Davis Cup in San Diego? (Great Britain defeated the United States 3-1 earlier this year as Sam Querrey blew a commanding lead and lost to 155th-ranked James Ward in five sets to give the Brits a 2-0 lead.)   
   A: I should have been a little firmer with Sam earlier in the week to get him to play full-throttle tennis. I made a mistake there in not getting on him to play the way he plays best. Sam is not a great defensive player, and if I had been as forceful with him as I was prior to the Murray match (which Querrey lost in four sets in the clincher), I think we would have been in much better shape and we would have found ourselves in a fifth match.
   But I love working with these guys. I make lots of mistakes, and that's how I learn. Hopefully we'll get more chances to help these guys win this thing (for the first time since 2007), but it's been a great time for me. I really do enjoy those weeks, even though they're very stressful.
   Q: When you were No. 1, there were four American men in the top 10 ...
   A: And dinosaurs roamed the Earth.
   Q: There are none now (although John Isner climbed to No. 10 last week). Has the rest of the world gotten better, has the U.S. declined, or both?
   A: I'm developing a theory -- maybe you guys can tell me whether you think it has any merit -- because I'm asked this question so frequently. It's a valid question -- all you have to do is look at the rankings. I'm starting to look toward when tennis became an official Olympic sport. The line of demarkation was 1988 in Seoul. Looking at the amount of American men and women in the top 100, we were pretty dominant.
   Since then, we've seen more countries spend more resources and more athletes be pushed in that direction. Near that point in time, the wall came down in Eastern Europe, and players didn't have to defect anymore. More nations have looked toward tennis, and it's more challenging for us as a result. We can't expect to dominate.
   Does that make any sense?
   Q: What do you think of the phenomenon of past greats coaching the top players?
   A: (Ivan) Lendl opened things up because he showed that as a part-time coach (of Murray), you could have a full-time impact. (Jimmy) Connors was kind of a trailblazer with (Andy) Roddick. Other coaches now are following, and we'll probably see more and more of it because it's a great way to (continue competing). My outlet is the Davis Cup. Their outlet is a player who has the capability of winning a major and trying to help them do that.
   Q: Can you see yourself coaching on an individual level?
   A: Never rule anything out is probably a pretty good rule of thumb. I'm in a different stage of my life where I'm hoping to start a family, as opposed to some of these (coaches) who are on the back end of having families. The kids are now leaving, and (the fathers) have more time.
   Timing is really important. I don't know what the future holds for me or if anyone would ask, but it is fascinating for all of us who follow the sport to have those names involved. I'd love to see more of the women get involved. The sport is always healthier if you can keep the icons around -- the (Boris) Beckers, the Edbergs, the Lendls, the Agassis and the Samprases -- because it gives us another layer to talk about.
   Q: Do they have experience that other people can't offer?
   A: The experience gives them a lot of respect from the players who will be hiring them or seeking their counsel. There's a shared experience of dealing with big-pressure moments that you either have or don't have. It doesn't mean you can't be a better coach without it. I'm sure you can, but when top players look for counsel, they're looking for something they can relate to and something that's going to help lift them.
   At this level of play, it's not going to be about technique. It's going to be about the X's and the O's and about the mental side of things. That's where the top players have experience.
   Q: Who are the mentally toughest players you've seen?
   A: It's pretty clear in my mind that Rafa is No. 1. Connors would certainly be in the conversation behind him, (Michael) Chang behind him and Sampras behind him. Pete wasn't as consistent with his output, but his major final record (14-4 in Grand Slam singles finals) is incredible. Rafa and Monica Seles are my top tier on the men's and women's side.
   Q: What makes Nadal so mentally tough?
   A:  He has an incredible ability to play every single point with 100 percent intensity, focus and consistency, and he doesn't deviate. Down 5-0, he doesn't look any different than if he's up 5-0. He's a marvel.
   Q: Regarding the "super coaches," Magnus Norman has never been put in that category, but what he did with Stan ...
   A: And Robin Soderling. (Norman) is 2 for 2.
   Q: Has Norman been given short shrift?
   A: Not inside the game. He has the men's respect, both as a player and coach. He was cut down in his prime by a hip injury, and he has done a terrific, low-key job of getting the best out of his two players. He'll continue to get opportunities to work with great players because of that.
   Coming soon: Q&A with John McEnroe.

Blake downs childhood idol McEnroe for title

James Blake, 34, beat John McEnroe, 55, to win the Champions
Shootout in Sacramento. Both grew up in the New York area
and still live there. Photo by Paul Bauman

   SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- James Blake and John McEnroe both grew up in the New York area and became professional tennis players.
   Otherwise, they have little in common.
   Blake is 34, black and right-handed. A classy gentleman in the mold of his idol, Arthur Ashe, Blake forged an excellent, but not Hall of Fame, career. He reached three Grand Slam singles quarterfinals, peaked at No. 4 in the world and helped the United States win its last Davis Cup championship (2007).   
   McEnroe is 55, white and left-handed. A temperamental genius with the racket, he captured 17 Grand Slam titles (seven in singles, nine in doubles and one in mixed doubles), led the United States to five Davis Cup titles and was inducted in the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1999.
   Despite the age difference, McEnroe strongly influenced Blake when the latter was a junior in Fairfield, Conn.
   "My parents and my coach probably will tell you there may have been a negative inspiration with him at times," Blake said with a laugh after beating McEnroe, who grew up in Queens and lives in Manhattan, 6-3 to win the Champions Shootout on Wednesday night at Sleep Train Arena. "I was a bit of a brat when I was 12 years old, and that's when he was (at the end of his career). He was my example when they said, 'You can't act like that and win.' And I said, 'Well, he sure does.' I would use him as my excuse for why I could act out. Eventually, I got out of that.
   "His is more of a show now, and he's having fun with it, but his intensity definitely inspired me. That's why I was such a perfectionist as a kid, and it carried over to the tour. I just hid it better. I was better at making sure the people didn't see how much the fire was burning inside me."

Pete Sampras, playing with a sore shoulder, lost to Blake in the
semifinals. Photo by Paul Bauman

   The Champions Shootout was the eighth of 12 stops, all in the United States in February and March, on the PowerShares Series. Only former Grand Slam singles finalists or top-five players over age 30 are eligible.
   In Wednesday's semifinals, Blake defeated 42-year-old Pete Sampras, playing with a sore shoulder, 6-3 and McEnroe topped 43-year-old Jim Courier -- you guessed it -- 6-3.
   Sampras collected 14 Grand Slam singles titles (second all-time behind Roger Federer's 17) and Courier four. They were inducted in the Hall of Fame in 2007 and 2005, respectively.
   McEnroe clearly was the star of the show in front of an announced crowd of 2,460 with his spectacular shotmaking and his theatrics, not necessarily in that order.
   He displayed his trademark temper in the semifinals and sardonic sense of humor in the final.
   McEnroe's biggest outburst came at 3-3 in the semis when a Courier forehand was called good on the baseline. McEnroe slammed his racket on the court, yelled at the linesman and swore at the chair umpire.
   He stayed calm in the final and, while serving at 3-4, cracked about a persistent hum in the arena, "Is the carpet up there clean yet?"
   The crowd's support for McEnroe occasionally miffed Courier and Blake, who, after all, were playing in their home country, too. 

Jim Courier fell to McEnroe in the semis.
Photo by Paul Bauman

   After Courier slugged a forehand crosscourt passing shot, the U.S. Davis Cup captain (coach) quipped to the audience, "Thank you for your lukewarm applause. I appreciate it."
   During the final, Blake admonished the fans at McEnroe's end of the court, "Am I playing against everyone on that side?"
   Blake, a resident of Westport, Conn., only six months removed from the ATP World Tour, had too much speed and power for McEnroe. Still, the gray-haired McEnroe put on dazzling performance with his corkscrew serve, deft volleys, feathery drop shots and pinpoint passing shots.  
   "It's incredible, the way he can still move, the way he can still serve, and his hands," marveled Blake, who won the last title of his active career a lob away from Sleep Train Arena at the Natomas Racquet Club in the 2012 Sacramento Challenger. "I think his hands will be that way until he's in a wheelchair. It's amazing how good his hands are.
   "I'm amazed by how great a shape he stays in and how well he can move around the court. I pray that I can move and serve like that when I'm 55."
   With his magical hands, McEnroe has a unique hitting style.
   "No one else can get away with it because no one has those gifts with his hands," observed Blake, who was born in Yonkers, N.Y., four months after McEnroe won his first Grand Slam singles title in the 1979 U.S. Open in nearby Flushing Meadows. "He's found a way to make the most out of it and master his craft.
  "It's fun to play something like that because I didn't see that on the tour. There are no true serve-and-volleyers, and there are no guys who use that kind of craftiness as well as he does."

John McEnroe: 'Tennis needs to think out of the box'

   Love him or loathe him, John McEnroe has always been passionate about tennis.
   The 55-year-old legend remains heavily involved in the sport, serving as an outspoken TV commentator, running a junior academy in his hometown of New York and playing on the senior tour.
   Tennis, however, is struggling to attract casual sports fans in the United States. Serena Williams and Bob and Mike Bryan might be the greatest women's singles and men's doubles players, respectively, in history, but no American man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Andy Roddick in the 2003 U.S. Open, and no U.S. men are ranked in the top 10 in singles.
   It's a far cry from McEnroe's prime in the late 1970s and early 1980s. His rivalries with Sweden's Bjorn Borg, fellow American Jimmy Connors and Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia, as it was known at the time, captivated U.S. fans.
   McEnroe, who's scheduled to play in the Champions Shootout (www.powersharesseries.com) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento, encourages innovation to revive interest while he and others try to develop the next superstar.
   "Tennis needs to think out of the box a lot more than it has to, sort of, stay relevant," he said during a recent conference call with reporters. "The foundation is great. It's a great game, but we need to reach out. We've got to try a lot more things, even if some of them fail."
   McEnroe, one of the greatest men's doubles player ever, raised eyebrows in December by suggesting the elimination of doubles and giving that prize money to singles players. 
   "I threw out the idea because there has been a lot of discussion and complaining from the guys ranked 200 to 800 (in singles) that they can't afford to stay on the tour," he said.
   On the conference call, McEnroe also mentioned the possibility of doubles players forming their own tour and nations playing the Davis Cup every Olympic year rather than annually.
   At the grass-roots level, McEnroe opened his academy in 2010.
   "My goal was and continues to be to try to open the game up to people that didn't know about it, can't afford it or both," he said. "Most of them are not going to be tennis professionals, but hopefully a couple of them could make it and it turn inspire some other kids from this area.
   "This sport has given me a lot. I feel I have the energy to give back, and I'd like to see this sport flourish again. It was great times when I was playing in the '70s and '80s with Borg and Connors and Ivan, and it feels like we lost some of that.
   "(Tennis has) some amazing players right now -- arguably two of the best players who ever lived (Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal) -- but at the same time, the state of our sport is not as healthy, and the interest level, to me, is not the same as it was. There is a lot of work to be done."
   Joining McEnroe in the Champions Shootout will be countrymen Pete Sampras, Jim Courier and James Blake. Sampras won 14 Grand Slam singles titles, second to Federer's 17. McEnroe captured seven and Courier four. Blake reached three Grand Slam quarterfinals and peaked at No. 4 in the world.
   In the one-set semifinals, Sampras (42) will face Blake (34), and McEnroe will play Courier (43). The winners then will meet in a one-set final.
   The fiery McEnroe remains intense on the court but tries to have more fun than he did on the regular tour.
   "I think I'll always be intense," he said, "but I realize that I'm pretty fortunate to be out there still, and I try to show the sense of humor that I'm hopefully a little better at showing as a commentator than I used to when I played. It's not as life or death as it used to be for me."

Blake Q&A: Retirement, U.S. men, today's stars

James Blake poses with emcee Brad Gilbert after winning the
2012 Sacramento Challenger. It was the last title of Blake's
career, in which he reached No. 4 in the world and played
on a Davis Cup championship team. Photo by Paul Bauman

   Only six months removed from the ATP World Tour, James Blake is scheduled to play in the Champions Shootout on Wednesday at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento.
   Blake, 34, will be the youngster in a quartet that also includes John McEnroe (55), Jim Courier (43) and Pete Sampras (42).
   Blake – a former top-five player and thoughtful gentleman in the mold of his idol, Arthur Ashe – has perhaps the most unusual background in the sport. 
   A native of Yonkers, N.Y., who grew up in Fairfield, Conn., Blake was diagnosed with severe scoliosis (curvature of the spine) at 13 and wore a full-length back brace for 18 hours a day for five years.
   He played two seasons (1998 and 1999) at Harvard, finishing No. 1 in the country and falling to Florida's Jeff Morrison in the NCAA final.
   Within two months in 2004, Blake broke his neck during practice, lost his father to stomach cancer and developed zoster (shingles).
   Blake was injured when he slipped on a wet clay court in Rome while racing to return a drop shot and struck the net post. Had he not turned his head at the last moment, doctors said he could have been paralyzed. Instead, Blake missed only two months.
   Zoster, a viral disease often caused by stress, temporarily paralyzed the left side of his face and affected his balance.
   Blake rebounded from the horrific sequence of events to have the best years of his career. His 3-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-3, 7-6 (6) loss to Andre Agassi in the 2005 U.S. Open quarterfinals is considered perhaps the greatest match in the tournament's history. Almost all of the 20,000 fans in attendance stayed until the pulsating match ended at 1:09 a.m.
   It was the closest the 6-foot-1 (1.85-meter) Blake, who combined powerful groundstrokes and blazing speed, ever got to a Grand Slam semifinal.
   Blake was named the Comeback Player of the Year in 2005, reached a career-high No. 4 in 2006 and helped the United States end its longest Davis Cup title drought in history, 12 years, in 2007.
   His 2007 book, "Breaking Back: How I lost Everything and Won Back My Life," reached No. 15 on the New York Times' bestseller list. The following year, he was named the Arthur Ashe Humanitarian of the Year for his fundraising efforts on behalf of cancer research. 
   Blake has played in Sacramento twice, both times in the $100,000 Challenger at the Natomas Racquet Club toward the end of his career. He lost to 6-foot-11 (2.11-meter) Ivo Karlovic of Croatia in the 2011 final and beat Mischa Zverev of Germany for the 2012 crown.
   It was the last title of Blake's career. He collected 10 singles and seven doubles championships on the elite ATP World Tour.
   Blake lives in Westport, Conn., with his wife, Emily, and their 1-year-old daughter, Riley. In an exclusive interview, he recently discussed retirement, the Champions Shootout (www.powersharesseries.com), U.S. men's tennis and today's top players.

   Q: Are you enjoying retirement, or do you miss playing?
   A: A little of both. I absolutely love retirement. It was the right time for me to stop, but if I see some tennis on TV and have memories of a certain tournament, I think about how much fun it was playing there. But I'm quite content with the effort I put in, and now I'm into a different part of my life. That includes fatherhood, being a husband and doing other things that I love just as much.
   Q: How do you spend your time?
   A: For a few months, it's been pretty much just spending time with my family, and I've loved every aspect of it. But I'm now getting to the point where I may start thinking about other things to do with my time, possibly getting back into tennis as a commentator or helping some young players out. I've thought about other careers, taking a completely different path and maybe getting into finance, doing something in New York. I'm really not sure, but I'm at a point where I'm having those kinds of meetings to figure out what exactly is next in life.
   Q: Are you interested in becoming the Davis Cup captain someday?
   A: Absolutely that interests me. I would love to do it. I don't think it would be appropriate for me to do it quite yet because I feel there needs to be a separation from when you leave the tour until you take on a role like that. It's important for the players to see you in a different light as opposed to a player. Jim has been off the tour for long enough that the kids -- I'm calling them kids now, which is sad, because that means I'm old -- the guys on the team look up to him. They respect him, they listen to what he has to say with a bit of reverence, and I think that's important. ...  
   I've always said since I first played on the Davis Cup team I would love to one day be the Davis Cup captain, and I still would love that opportunity.
   Q: Did you watch much of the Australian Open?
   A: I did not watch much of it. I watched a little bit. I've been home, and I have a young daughter who gets up pretty early in the morning, so watching matches at 3 a.m. wasn't going to be a good schedule for me this year. I'm sure I'll watch when (the matches) are at more reasonable times at the U.S. Open and maybe the French Open and Wimbledon.
   I'm happy for Stan (Wawrinka). I played him a few times on the tour. It's too bad about Rafa (Rafael Nadal) getting injured in the final, but I heard it was pretty amazing tennis by Stan.
   Q: Did you stay home over the holidays?
   A: Yes, I was home doing the normal family stuff. That was one of the times it hit me and became clear that life was a little different when you get to be home for the holidays and really enjoy them.
   Pretty much every year of my career, I would be at Christmas dinner happy to be with my family, but I was also in the back of my mind realizing that in a couple days -- or in just one day a lot of times -- I would be leaving for Australia and would need to be in great shape. I needed to be prepared for the trip; I needed to be prepared for dealing with that heat and humidity.
   This year, it was amazing because I was able to relax, able to eat maybe an extra dessert or two and not think that it's going to be a problem when I'm playing a fifth set in Australia. It was great to be home doing that.
   Q: Did you play in the recent Pebble Beach Pro-Am golf tournament?
   A: Yeah, I did. It was a lot of fun. I got to play with Chris Kirk, who was a ton of fun. He's another tremendous athlete. We played in the same foursome with Andy (Roddick) and John Mallinger. I had never played there, and the courses are beautiful. I hope I get the chance to play them again, but if I only get the chance to play them once, it was an experience I'll never forget.
   Q: Do you play much golf?
   A: I used to play a decent amount when I lived in Tampa (Fla.). I'd finish practice, and we could go right out to the course and play. I'd play with my brother. But I haven't gotten as much of a chance to play lately being busy with my daughter, and living up in Connecticut, there are really only four or five months out of the year where it's really good weather to play. But when I get those opportunities, I jump at them.
   Q: What's your handicap?
   A: I played (at Pebble Beach) as a 9. I'm always around an 8 or a 9.
   Q: Have you been playing much tennis?
   A: I have not been playing a ton of tennis compared to what I was throughout my career. I've hit with some of the juniors in town here. I have a few friends who are teaching pros, so I'll help out and go to their clinics once in a while. I think I'll continue doing that. I love seeing the kids get better, but I haven't exactly been training the way I used to. I'm sure I'll ramp it up a little more before some of these (senior tour matches) I'm playing with Andy, Pete and Andre and all those guys because I'll need to be better than normal. I still work out, so I should be all right.

Blake combined powerful groundstrokes with
blazing speed. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   Q: How will it feel to be the young guy instead of the old guy?
   A: (Laughs) It'll be interesting. I still remember being the young guy on tour and how quickly it transitioned to being the veteran or the older guy, the guy kids look up to or the one who can impart wisdom on the young guys. Now to be back to being the young guy again will be a little weird because it seems like it's been a while since I was that young guy on tour. It'll be fun, although I don't think I'm even the youngest with the fact that Andy's (on the senior tour). Even though he retired a year before me, he's younger than me.
   Q: Do you consider yourself the favorite in Sacramento?
   A: Um, I don't know. There are such great players, and it's one set, so absolutely anything can happen. We're going to have a good time, we're going to do our best, and hopefully no one will get hurt, but I don't know if there's a real favorite. I hope I make it out of there on top, but I'm not as concerned as I used to be about that.
  Q: Did the guys on the regular tour tease you about your age toward the end of your career?
  A: Oh, sure. The guys definitely made fun of me for being old. I fully expected that, because when I was a kid, I teased Todd Martin and Pete Sampras about their age. I deserved to get it right back when I got to that age.
   Q: What did they call you?
   A: Gramps. ... I had been dating my now wife for quite a few years. I wasn't going out after matches like the young guys were, and they let me know that I was old and married even though I wasn't married. That was my lifestyle, and I was OK with being grandpa for a while there.
   Q: Why have U.S. men struggled for the past decade, other than your Davis Cup title in 2007?
   A: It's tough to live up to the standards that were set by the Agassi, Sampras, (Michael) Chang, Courier generation. Andy and I did our best. I feel like we had some pretty good success. Andy was inside the top 10 for about 10 straight years, I was inside the top 10 for about four or five years, and the Bryans were the best doubles team in the world. It got us a Davis Cup title, which hadn't been done for (a long time).
   We were really happy with how we did, and nowadays it's becoming even tougher. The competition is tougher, the game is more physical, and the game has become more globalized. There's a top player from Serbia who never would have been seen 20 years ago. When I was on tour, there was a top player from Thailand (Paradorn Srichaphan) who never would have been seen 20 or 30 years ago. (Tennis) has just become more accessible to the rest of the world, and it's tougher (for Americans) to dominate.
   (John) Isner and (Sam) Querrey are doing their best. They're great players, but it's just really tough these days. If there's a little bit of a lull in American tennis, it's going to come back hopefully with a vengeance.
   I know Isner has it in him. His goal is to win a Slam, and I really think he has that ability. It's not easy with him being 6-10. Injuries creep up on you pretty quickly when you're that big. Sam has a lot of talent. He's a little bit searching for his game right now, but once it does click in, I think he'll be in the top 10.
   Q: No U.S. man has won a Grand Slam singles title since Roddick in 2003. Do you think the drought has been blown out of proportion?
   A: I do, because outside of Juan Martin del Potro and now Stan Wawrinka, there really haven't been many Grand Slam champions outside of Rafa, Roger (Federer) and Novak (Djokovic). Lleyton (Hewitt) won a few back then, but otherwise, it's been dominated by a few guys.
   That has changed a ton about our sport. There's been a real domination that didn't used to happen because the surfaces used to be much more varied. Nowadays, the surfaces have become much closer together. That lends itself to one player dominating.
   Back in the days of Sampras and Agassi, there were clay-court specialists, there were guys who specialized on faster courts, and nowadays the best player in the world is the one who can play on that one very similar court that we've all been playing on for the last few years.
   Q: Will Federer win any more Slams?
   A: I like to think so. He's a great guy, a great champion, the best of all time, in my opinion. A lot of things have to go right. He's getting up there in years, so it would be tough for him to win one if he has two or three really physical matches in a row. But if a lot of things fall into place and he doesn't meet Rafa at any point -- because Rafa really seems to have a game plan that works well against Roger -- then I think he has a chance to win one more, especially at Wimbledon, where he's had so much success and has a ton of confidence. I'd like to see him win one more, because I know that would be a big deal to him.
   Q: Do you see Wawrinka winning any more Slams?
   A: I don't know. It'll be interesting to see how Stan reacts now to being a Grand Slam champion. It's pretty tough because of how good Rafa, Roger, Novak, del Potro, (David) Ferrer, all those guys really are. (Wawrinka) won a couple of very, very close matches there, so for him to do that again might be difficult with all the strain on his time and the pressure that will be added. I have a feeling he'll either win a few more or no more.
   Q: Do you see anyone else outside of Federer, Nadal, Djokovic and Andy Murray winning a Slam in the next year or two?
   A: I really think (Tomas) Berdych has a chance. Berdych is a great player. I think people have questioned sometimes whether he can beat Rafa because Rafa's really had his number lately, but he's had most of these guys' numbers.
   Berdych just needs to break through with his confidence. He's confident most times, but when it gets late in Slams, he might not have that same confidence. If he can finally get over that hump, he has a ton of talent and is so professional in the way he prepares that he'll have a chance. He's beaten all the top players. He just needs to put it together in a Slam.
   Q: Have players gotten taller since you came on the tour, and if so, why?
   A: I definitely think players have gotten taller. When I came on tour, I felt like I was above average in height, and by the time I left the tour, I felt like I was one of the shorter guys.
   The game has become more physical, so it's created more and more real athletes, and the athletes are getting bigger, stronger, faster, as they are in every sport. You see football players benching more, you see them being taller, you see them being faster. And basketball, same thing.
   That's the nature of sports. Guys' training gets better, guys' nutrition gets better, and they become better and better physically.
   Q: Do you still get comments about your match against Agassi in the U.S. Open?
   A: Yeah, I still do every once in a while. A lot of times, fans will say, "I was there" or "I still remember being up late and watching that match; that was great tennis." That's nice for me to hear.
    I wish obviously I had won that match, but it's nice to hear that it was a part of tennis history, or at least recent tennis history. People will remember where they were, remember when they were watching that and remember it for what it was. It was an excellent match (between) two competitors beating each other up as much as they could but still having the respect that we had for each other's games and each other's personalities.

Sampras on U.S. men: 'Rest of world has gotten better'

Pete Sampras is scheduled to play in the Champions Shootout next Wednesday
at Sleep Train Arena in Sacramento. 2012 photo by Paul Bauman

   The reason for the United States' decline in men's tennis lies outside of the country.
   American legend Pete Sampras expressed that view in a recent interview on KHTK radio in Sacramento, where he's scheduled to play in the Champions Shootout next Wednesday.
   "I don't know if it is really us," Sampras mused, "but I think the rest of the world has gotten a little bit better. Through television and the Internet, it seems like there are just more people playing tennis.
   "You look at the top players in the world, you've got Rafa (Rafael Nadal) from Mallorca (Spain), Novak (Djokovic) from Serbia and Roger (Federer) from Switzerland. Twenty years ago, maybe tennis wasn't popular in those countries. Now it is, and the best athletes from these countries are playing tennis and not just soccer."
   By any measure, the U.S. men are struggling in singles. No Grand Slam champions since Andy Roddick in the 2003 U.S. Open. No one in the top 10. Recent first-round loss at home in the Davis Cup. At least Bob and Mike Bryan are ranked No. 1 in doubles with a record 15 major titles.
   The Champions Shootout, meanwhile, features three Americans with a combined 25 Grand Slam singles crowns plus former top-five player James Blake of the United States. Sampras ranks second all-time with 14 (behind Federer's 17), John McEnroe collected seven, and Jim Courier won four.
   In the one-set semifinals beginning at 7 p.m. at Sleep Train Arena, Sampras will face the recently retired Blake, and McEnroe will play Courier. The winners then will meet in a one-set final.
   "I still enjoy playing," said Sampras, 42. "I love hitting the ball and just getting a good workout in and going out and competing against some of these old friends of mine. It's fun, and I get to catch up with some friends, some old stories.
   "And for whatever reason, these people still want to see us play, so I'm excited. It keeps me busy, keeps me involved in the sport, and the sport has been good to me. I'm looking forward to hitting a few balls, getting in tennis shape and having some fun."
   It's easy to be cynical about sports these days, but Sampras remains a believer.
   "In life, in a lot of ways, you see a lot of people get breaks when they don't deserve them," he said. "I just feel that with sports, nothing is given to you. You have to go out there and earn it. There are a lot of good life lessons that you can learn from sports, and it's something I am trying to instill in my kids."
   Sampras enjoys sports in general, not just tennis.  
   "I love watching anything from the NFL to golf to college football," he said. "I think sports is the real deal. There are great stories. There are emotional stories. It's very real.
   "I love tennis because it is the ultimate one-on-one sport. It's one will against another will. You put it all out there. If you don't play well, you are going to lose. That's the way I kind of like it."
   Tickets for the Champions Shootout start at $25. For more information, visit www.powersharesseries.com.   

Agassi wins seniors title in San Jose

   Andre Agassi defeated John McEnroe 8-3 to win the Champions Showdown on Friday night at HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.
   Agassi, 42, moved from eighth to fifth in the PowerShares Series standings with three events remaining.
   In the semifinals of the one-night, four-player event, Agassi topped Jim Courier 6-3, and McEnroe downed Todd Martin 6-3.
   Standings: 1. Courier, 1,400 points; 2. McEnroe, 1,200; 3. Pete Sampras, 1,100; 4. Patrick Rafter, 800; 5. Agassi, 500; 6. Michael Chang and Ivan Lendl, 200; 8. Martin and Mats Wilander, 200.