Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Columnist Tim Graham: McEnroe says Agassi overthinks

John McEnroe certainly was on top of his game. His shots sizzled and his temper flared.

But McEnroe wasn't on a tennis court. He was on a teleconference.

McEnroe, the former wild child of tennis, now makes money criticizing the sport as an analyst for CBS and the USA Network. Both employers will team up to cover this year's U.S. Open, which starts Monday.

But while McEnroe backhanded virtually the entire sport during Tuesday's one-hour conference call with national media, he stopped short at slapping Las Vegan Andre Agassi.

After a tirade on the poor state of tennis, McEnroe was fired up. He was openly arguing with fellow teleconference guests Pam Shriver and Tony Trabert.

Then McEnroe was asked what Agassi's problem is.

"I personally, as a friend of Andre and a fan of tennis, want to see Andre get back," McEnroe said. "He's had runs throughout his career where he has been fabulous. I don't know whether it's injury, loss of motivation, or what, but he's gone off a little bit after '95."

The kid-glove treatment seemed a bit odd coming from such an opinionated person. But McEnroe offered some excuses as to why Agassi suffered three straight first-round losses before finally winning a couple of matches at last week's RCA Championships.

"He's had a lot on his plate this year. He just got married (to actress Brooke Shields)," McEnroe said. "He's a real cerebral guy, a real emotional guy and takes things to heart more than he should. He's overthinking a bit."

Many tennis insiders claim Agassi's troubles stem from a lack of interest more than his busy schedule or his recent wrist injuries. Considering the amounts of prize money, endorsement revenue and appearance fees popular players make each year, it is easy to see why titles become less important.

"I don't think that's the case whatsoever," McEnroe said. "Yes, the players of today make large sums of money. So that sometimes is a factor, where you lose in the first round and still get paid large sums of money. But I don't see a loss of motivation with Andre."

Neither McEnroe, Shriver nor Trabert, however, predict the unseeded Agassi will challenge for the Open title.

"Beyond Pete (Sampras), you're pretty much guessing at this point," McEnroe said.

Shriver, who stated she hates to predict such a dominant favorite, tabbed Goran Ivanisevic to win. "It's hard to do," she said, "but what the heck." She gave Martina Hingis a slight edge over Monica Seles.

As for Agassi's future, McEnroe hopes it improves.

"He's 27. There still should be time, and it would be beneficial to the game if Andre had one more big-time run," McEnroe said. "It would be a good thing, and Pete has talked about how he misses (their rivalry)."

USA (Prime Cable Channel 16) airs 84 hours of live Open coverage over 11 straight days, starting Monday at 8 a.m.

CBS (KLAS Channel 8), in its 30th year of covering the event, carries 45 hours of live material, including the men's and women's finals Sept. 7. It also offers a recap show weeknights from 12:37-1:07 a.m.

Static

* ESPN'S MAYNE MAN: ESPN (Prime Cable Channel 19) recently awarded former UNLV quarterback Kenny Mayne the coveted Sunday night "SportsCenter" job, vacated when Keith Olbermann resigned to join MSNBC (Prime Cable Channel 47). "I'm definitely honored, and it's a big challenge. "It's my biggest challenge since I've been here," the dry-witted Mayne said after his appointment. "I just have to go out and do what I did up until this point. ... I don't remember what I did." Mayne graduated from UNLV in 1982 and got his television start on local PBS affiliate KLVX Channel 10.

* HUNKA HUNKA BURNIN' FAT: Fox Sports baseball announcer Joe Buck on the Atlanta Braves and St. Louis Cardinals playing in the 95-degree heat at Busch Stadium: "Today's the kind of day that you'll sweat like Elvis did on stage back in the '70s."

* PHONETIC NOTE: Former UNLV and current Jacksonville Jaguars receiver Keenan McCardell pronounces his name Mick-are-DELL. In calling McCardell's highlights against the San Francisco 49ers Monday night, all three local sportscasters pronounced his name Ma-CAR-dle.

* SPINNING THE DIAL: With Las Vegas as one its top bases, ESPN2 (Prime Cable Channel 31) recently surpassed the 50 million-household mark. ... Western High grad Frank Hawkins, newly inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame, is the new TV color commentator for his alma mater, Nevada-Reno. The Wolf Pack's road games are seen in Reno on KOLO Channel 8.

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