 McEnroe plays his first game against Jeremy Bates on Thursday |
John McEnroe agrees his competitive playing days "are numbered" so this week's Tennis Legends event may be his one and only appearance in Belfast. McEnroe heads the cast of stars in action at the Odyssey Arena from Thursday until Sunday in the first time tennis has been played at the venue.
Others in action include another ex-Wimbledon champion Pat Cash plus Henri Leconte and Peter Fleming.
The event is the opening stop in this year's BlackRock Tour of Champions.
McEnroe will open his Odyssey challenge with a clash against former British number one Jeremy Bates on Thursday while while French stars Leconte and Cedric Pioline are also in their round-robin group.
Cash starts his Group B campaign with an encounter against Swede Anders Jarryd on Thursday while South African Wayne Ferreira and German Carl-Uwe Steeb will also be aiming to top the section.
The two group winners will quality for Sunday's final while the second-placers will be in action in a third and fourth place match.
 | I've mellowed a bit but I can still come on a court to win |
Doubles legend Fleming will team up with Irish players Niall Fitzgerald and David O'Connell on each of the four days when they will be up against various pairings from the legends.
McEnroe attended Thursday's opening press conference along with Cash, Ferreira, Steeb, Bates and Leconte but inevitably, the fiery American was getting most of the attention.
The three-times Wimbledon singles champion turned 48 last week but he insists that he has retained his legendary competitive instincts.
"It never leaves you. I've mellowed a bit but I can still come on a court to win," said McEnroe.
"It can be frustrating. In your mind, you're doing one thing but your body is doing another. But I still feel I'm playing well.
"I'm going to go as hard as I can over the next year and see if I can come up with some wins."
On his infamous temper McEnroe joked that delivering at least one tirade is a part of his contract during the legends events.
| When you play in cities where there are big (regular tour) events, you feel sometimes that you are second fiddle |
"It's ironic, the thing I used to get fined for, basically I would get fined it I didn't do it now."
McEnroe has never played in Northern Ireland before but he has been a regular at the GOAL charity events and he did play in a Davis Cup tie for the USA against Ireland in Dublin in 1983.
Two McEnroe singles wins helped the US to a 4-1 win over Irish but his main memory of his trip to the Emerald Isle was a visit to County Cavan to see his one surviving Irish relative.
"It was in Ballyjamesduff and the thing I remember when I was introduced to her was that she said that she preferred Borg to me," recalled McEnroe as he held court at Thursday's press conference.
However, McEnroe is likely to be the crowd favourite in Belfast and he insists he is looking forward to playing a city which has never been a stop-off on the international tennis circuit.
"You feel you are actually doing something for the sport. When you play in cities where there are big (regular tour) events, you feel sometimes that you are second fiddle."
That will not be the case in Belfast.
E-mail this to a friend 
Printable version 