U.S Open Tennis: Five Things John McEnroe Wants to Change
Grunting, court size and scheduling top the tennis star's list.
Aug. 31, 2009— -- With the start of the U.S. Open today, we thought it might be a good time to check in with one of the sport's greatest stars to see what he thinks about tennis today.
No one has ever accused John McEnroe of being quiet and, when it comes to his sport, he also has plenty to say.
"I came in at a great time, in the late '70s, early '80s," he said. "I don't want to say a golden age. I'm probably a little biased but it seemed like a great time."
While tennis has had some rough years since then, McEnroe thinks the sport is "on an upswing" that needs to be capitalized on.
"There have been three great Wimbledon finals in a row, maybe the greatest match ever played last year," he said. "I think a lot of non-tennis fans checked in."
McEnroe said he thinks there is an opportunity now to get more tennis spectators and more people out on the courts playing themselves.
"We have to do a better job of marketing the game and getting people to sort of get to know these players, particularly the non-American ones," he said. "You have to push out because 25 or 30 years ago, if you had had told me that golf would get much better ratings or be on [TV] more often than tennis, I would have laughed at you."
Even more upsetting: "Poker is on [TV] four times as much as tennis.
"We were being reactive instead of proactive, just standing and waiting for something to happen instead of doing something about it," McEnroe said. "We need to get out there and be talking it up a lot more."
McEnroe has his list of things he would change in the sport, starting with the schedule. He said the "Davis Cup seems to be like an afterthought" and that more thought needs to be put into coordinating tournaments with the Olympics.
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