John McEnroe Wins ATP Doubles Event

In what should be making front page news across the world, John McEnroe has won his 78th doubles title with partner Jonas Bjorkman at the SAP Open in San Jose, CA at the age of 47. Unless you are somewhat familiar with the tennis world, you can't begin to appreciate how incredible a feat that is. I am still in disbelief.

McEnroe, who is most famous for his wild temper and on-court antics, is not only a tennis legend, but also a cultural icon. But more importantly to me, this act of winning an ATP Tournament at the age of 47 shows that the sport just doesn't make 'em like they used to. I appreciate Andy Roddick as a great player. Topping the remaining top ten right now in the ATP World Rankings are: Federer, Nadal, Nalbandian, Ljubicic, Davydenko, Coria, Gaudio, Hewitt and Agassi. Chances are, you only know one those names, Agassi. Before I continue with my point, Federer really seems to be a player who could reach legendary status, he has proved himself literally unbeatable this last year. But what about the rest of the top 10? No one is going to remember these guys, save Agassi who is amazingly still in the top 10, proving my point for me. If you take 8 out of the current top ten players in the world and place them against the top players in the 70's and 80's at their prime, they would get beat in straight sets.

I don't want to take away from McEnroe's brilliance, he is still an amazing player. But the sport certainly needs a boost. We need the rivalry back. The Borg-Connors, Lendl-McEnroe, Becker-Edberg. It just isn't there anymore. We were excited last US Open to see Agassi make such an impressive run at the title. But the only time the tennis world gets excited is when old guys are making some kind of comeback. It will be interesting to see if Mac plays another ATP event anytime soon.