Tennis latest; John McEnroe praises Rafter’s appointment as the Davis Cup skipper
The former world number one tennis player John McEnroe from the United States of America praised Pat Rafter's appointment as the new skipper of the Australian Davis Cup side on Wednesday, however he found it extremely shocking
that his country did not have a single contender ranked in the top fifty in the ATP ranking list.
The seven time major champion McEnroe is one of the important contenders of the eight-man Champions Down under competition beginning today at Sydney Olympic Park.
The 51-year-old New York resident has drawn in the same pool as another seven-time major winner, Mats Wilander, Wayne Ferreira of South Africa and Australia's 1987 grass court Grand Slam winner Pat Cash.
The second group brings together Australia's two time United States Open winner Pat Rafter, Henri Leconte of France, Croatia's 2001grass court Grand Slam winner Goran Ivanisevic and Thomas Enqvist of Sweden.
McEnroe, who captivated tennis lovers with his high quality game for many years, produced a couple of witty one-liners and interesting opinions at a news conference on Wednesday in Sydney.
The left handed American found it tough to comprehend that such a historically prosperous tennis country like Australia had no one ranked inside the top fifty in the ATP list, with veteran Lleyton Hewitt at number fifty six, the
only local player in the top hundred.
"It is unbelievable to think there is not even one guy in the top 50 right now. I do not know what is going on. It will be interesting to see how much longer Hewitt wants to go on, I am sure he is not the type of player that is
happy being 56 in the world," he said.
McEnroe also wished all the very best to Rafter, who is the new captain of the Davis cup team of Australia and is expecting his side to once again reach the top level of the game.
"I think Patrick Rafter is a fantastic appointment, absolutely first class. There is not a single guy on the tour that does not like this young man; he is a mate's mate as you say in Australia. I think he is going to do a great
job,” reflected McEnroe on Wednesday.
While commenting on Roger Federer’s chances of regaining the number one spot, the owner of seven Grand Slam trophies, McEnroe added that he is not sure of whether the Swiss will able to take over Rafael Nadal this time or not however
assured that he will definitely grab a couple of more majors on the tour.
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