A Legendary Affair

August 13, 2007 - It isn’t often that you get to see a pair of former world No. 1’s, a global icon, and one of Canada’s top tennis talents in a single match. And even with the high expectations at stake, John McEnroe, Jim Courier, Anna Kournikova, and Carling Bassett-Seguso managed to thrill fans in attendance at Tennis Legends presented by Acura on Monday night with a blend of exciting tennis and plenty of entertainment.

McEnroe triumphed over Courier in the battle of American legends, while he and Kournikova topped Bassett-Seguso and Courier in mixed doubles, but results were secondary to an evening that was about fun, first and foremost. After all, a night that includes microphones, pranks, and TSN’s James Duthie presiding over the festivities as chair umpire is hardly for the most serious of tennis fans.

McEnroe, who was also inducted into the Canadian Tennis Hall of Fame along with Bassett-Seguso during the night’s festivities, kept the crowd in stitches throughout much of the evening. When not egging him on to throw one of his trademark tantrums at a close call going the wrong way, the crowd kept amused with such vintage ‘Johnny Mac’ antics as waving balls past the baseline and putting mouthy hecklers in their place.
Not one to be outdone by his opposition, Courier got his fair share of laughs leading the crowd in a stirring rendition of “Sweet Caroline”, which was being played over the loudspeakers on a break in play, and replacing himself with a ballboy who did not shy away from a little showmanship.

Kournikova received a thunderous ovation in her first appearance at the Rogers Cup presented by American Express since 2002. Despite having gone four years without competing on the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour, the blonde bombshell displayed some of the on-court skill that helped her ascend to No. 8 in the world in 2000. 

Finally, ‘Darling Carling’ added some homegrown flavor to the proceedings and showed that she hadn’t lost a step since her playing days, collecting a couple of ‘oooh’-eliciting winners.

At the end of the night, the only thing better than the Tennis Legends experience for the delighted crowd was the fact that there is still plenty of sizzling on-court action to come the rest of the week at the Rogers Cup at Rexall Centre.

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