McEnroe still playing for Canadians

Perfect attendance is not a virtue that automatically comes to mind when discussing John McEnroe. But his participation in the Canadian Open was impeccable. He played the event every single year from 1977 until 1992.

The only other tournament he did not miss over that period was played not far from his childhood home in Queens, N.Y. - the U.S. Open at Flushing Meadows.

McEnroe's loyalty, as well as his titles in 1984 and 1985, will be recognized in two weeks in Toronto when he will be inducted into the Rogers Cup Hall of Fame along with Carling Bassett-Seguso.

That will occur on Aug. 13 when he plays an exhibition against Jim Courier and also a mixed doubles friendly with Anna Kournikova versus Courier and Bassett-Seguso.

These days, that is most apparent in his television commentary. At Wimbledon, he does both BBC and NBC. "The big difference is that the BBC doesn't run commercials," McEnroe said on a conference call yesterday. "Here in the States, as soon as a game is over and they switch sides, they count you off to a commercial. On the BBC, with no commercials, you don't say as much during play because you don't feel the need to get it in. You let the play speak for itself. You've got a couple of minutes on each changeover to go whichever way you want. It's a nice change."

About the upcoming U.S. Open with its two-week grind of working day and night for both USA Network and CBS, McEnroe said, "I work the big events and very rarely will I call other events. For the most part, I'm calling the French, Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. It's a lot of work but those are the best events of the year. The hardest weeks, the most work, are Wimbledon and the U.S. Open. But they're also the most fun for me."

Discussing men's tennis, McEnroe can see beyond the dominance of world No. 1 Roger Federer and No. 2 Rafael Nadal. "[Novak] Djokovic is the real deal, he thinks he's going to be No. 1," McEnroe said about the current No. 3. "He's got a real opportunity. It's not going to be easy because these guys [Federer and Nadal] have a lot of pride and talent. Djokovic now, on hard courts, would be an even bet or better to beat Nadal. Not on clay or grass, but on hard courts, the way Rafa moves - he runs so hard that sometimes I worry about his injury situation on that [hard] court. Hopefully, he'll figure out a way to make it a little easier on his body. Federer seems to sort of float above it."

Citing Djokovic, Richard Gasquet, Andy Murray and Tomas Berdych, he added, "There's definitely a young brigade coming. One of them is going to challenge those guys real soon."

McEnroe had only been vaguely aware of Frank Dancevic before watching on TV as the Canadian reached last Sunday's final of the Indianapolis Tennis Championships. "He's got some game," McEnroe said. "I liked the fact that he wasn't afraid to mix things up, come in [to the net]. It just seems like he has a pretty good feel for how to play tennis. I thought it was a great run."

Dancevic, now ranked No. 92, is in the field for the Rogers Cup in Montreal next week. After McEnroe's last appearance in 1992, the tournament presented him with a Canadian-made Larrivée guitar. "It was the only place where I got a present," he laughed. "I didn't go on some farewell tour and to this day I've never announced my retirement. To get something like that, and knowing in my mind that that was probably going to be it, was a special moment."

Sadly, his beloved guitar fell victim to post-9/11 airline carry-on rules when he had to choose between taking his racquets or his guitar on a flight.

The guitar was checked as luggage and came out, in McEnroe's words, "looking [as if] I'd just got pummelled in a match by [Pete] Sampras. It was not a good look.

"That had a special significance for me. To have the guitar messed up was a bummer. I don't play as much now but I take better care of them."

McEnroe in Canada

Canadian Open (1977-92):

A record 16 appearances.

Champion: 1984, 1985.

Runner-up: 1979, 1989.

Match record: 44-14.

Doubles champion (with Peter Fleming): 1979, 1984.

Doubles runner-up (with Fleming): 1981, 1982; (with Andre Agassi): 1992.