John McEnroe and Chris Evert, winners of 25 Grand Slam
titles between them, said yesterday that "they were alarmed
over the state of pro tennis and that strong measures must
be taken to revive interest in the game," according to
Leonard Shapiro of the WASHINGTON POST. During an NBC
Sports conference call to tout the network's Wimbledon
coverage, which included NBC's Dick Enberg, McEnroe said,
"I'm personally embarrassed by the sport, I'm embarrassed by
the lack of interest in the sport." McEnroe: "There is a
general feeling of malaise in tennis. Something needs to be
done and some drastic changes would be preferable ... We
don't have a proper beginning or an end to the season. And
it's too long. Losing the wood racket was a big blow to the
sport. ... And in the women's game, it's a big problem when
your number one player is 16 years old." McEnroe was
referring to Martina Hingis. Evert echoed McEnroe's
remarks, adding, "Right now, I'm not impressed with the
standard (in women's tennis)." Evert: "The players don't
know about the TV or the ratings. They see crowds, they see
the money increasing, but it's a false sense of security
that the game is still healthy. ... [W]ho is there to root
for? ... We don't have that big drawing card that we used
to" (WASHINGTON POST, 6/26). NBC's Enberg added, "I had it
slap me right in the face in the last three weeks. To go
from the French Open, where we had record-low ratings. Then
to go back to cover the U.S. Open (golf), where you feel
this flush of excitement. ... [W]hen you're with the tennis
people, they still are so hard to corner. We've been doing
Breakfast at Wimbledon since 1979. Boris Becker won in
1985. He's yet to say hello to me. I'm frustrated by what
I see" (Jerry Linquidst, RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 6/26).
MAD AS HELL: McEnroe and Evert called on the game's top
players to take action. McEnroe said Pete Sampras "has to
get up publicly and say the way the game is set up, it
absolutely stinks and I'm not going to play until we do
something about it." The POST's Shapiro adds that Evert was
"critical" of Steffi Graf "for not taking more of an active
role in leadership of the" WTA (WASHINGTON POST, 6/26).
OVERHEAD SMASH: In Richmond, Jerry Linquist: "For
almost an hour the former Wimbledon champions plus Enberg
trashed the game on the highest level, bemoaning its
structure, the players' indifference in promoting it and the
tour's lack of depth." More Linquist: "[S]omehow, during
the commentary that occasionally reached tirade proportions,
you could picture NBC suits sweating through their ...
threads. This was designed to turn on viewers to the nine
days of coverage that will include as many as 34 hours --
not turn them off" (RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH, 6/26).
HOT CHILD IN THE CITY: At Wimbledon, "nobody is getting
more headlines and photos than 16-year-old Anna Kournikova,"
according to Michelle Kaufman of the MIAMI HERALD. Kaufman:
"The lanky blond with the supermodel looks is dating Detroit
Red Wing Sergei Fedorov ... and the tabs can't get enough of
her." Headline in Wednesday's edition of The Sun: "Spice
Girl Anna's A Knockout" (MIAMI HERALD, 6/25).
