How good is McEnroe still?

[Surecatch]

I watched him play in the old fellas' tournament on TV last night against Agassi and then Rafter and was pretty impressed at his skill level for being well into his fifties now. I really hadn't seen him play much since his tour days, other than youtube clips but looked like he hit harder than in his youth, which isn't surprising given advances in racquets, etc. He's naturally a little slower but still seems very accurate with his defense, especially considering his opponents also hit harder than back in the day.

What would his USTA level be? Could he compete on the ATP tour still? Would he smoke Serena?

[goran_ace]

Originally Posted by Surecatch

What would his USTA level be? Could he compete on the ATP tour still? Would he smoke Serena?

1.) Irrelevant. He would destroy any 5.0 player out there and NTRPs above 5.0 are purely academic.

2.) No way. He might take a match here or there but his body would not hold up for a whole tournament.

3.) No. She'd win the physical battle.

[treblings]

Originally Posted by goran_ace

1.) Irrelevant. He would destroy any 5.0 player out there and NTRPs above 5.0 are purely academic.

2.) No way. He might take a match here or there but his body would not hold up for a whole tournament.

3.) No. She'd win the physical battle.

totally agree with your points. i´m not sure McEnroe would agree with your point no.3

[Surecatch]

Originally Posted by goran_ace

1.) Irrelevant. He would destroy any 5.0 player out there and NTRPs above 5.0 are purely academic.

2.) No way. He might take a match here or there but his body would not hold up for a whole tournament.

3.) No. She'd win the physical battle.

This is pretty much what I'd have guessed but you guys know much better than I.

[TomT]

Originally Posted by goran_ace

1.) Irrelevant. He would destroy any 5.0 player out there and NTRPs above 5.0 are purely academic.

2.) No way. He might take a match here or there but his body would not hold up for a whole tournament.

3.) No. She'd win the physical battle.

Basically agree. But Mac still plays great tennis. I love to watch him play.

[Alchemy-Z]

I bet he and a current ATP pro could go deep in doubles at a tournament.

[Tennishacker]

Originally Posted by Alchemy-Z

I bet he and a current ATP pro could go deep in doubles at a tournament.

Several years ago he won a ATP doubles tournament in Sacramento.

Quite impressive for someone in their 50's.

[Topspin_80]

Originally Posted by Tennishacker

Several years ago he won a ATP doubles tournament in Sacramento.

Quite impressive for someone in their 50's.

He was 47 when he won that doubles tourny .

[woodrow1029]

Originally Posted by Tennishacker

Several years ago he won a ATP doubles tournament in Sacramento.

Quite impressive for someone in their 50's.

San Jose. 47

[slowfox]

Mac's game always seem kinda low impact i.e. easy on the body. Not sure but perhaps he's been rather injury free most of his career. Hence, still able to play at a high level even now.

[dominikk1985]

he is still tremendously good for his age (at least 5.5 more likely 6.0) but I'm not sure if the other guys are taking it easy on him.

I mean they are 10-15 years younger then him so they might just not want to destroy him.

[NLBwell]

Thomas Muster came back to play Challengers after getting terribly out of shape and actually won a couple of matches and many of the matches were very competitive. Of course, that is at a level far higher than any woman, including Serena, plays. She probably wouldn't get more than a game or two if the Challenger guy relaxed a lot. Similarly, she would barely get a game from guys like Sampras or Rafter on the old guys tour. McEnroe is 8 years older than Muster and still plays a very high level of tennis, but even watching the tour on TV, I can tell he isn't as good as a few years ago. His game can still be mystifying, even to the former greats though, if he is playing well.
All in all, I'd say he'd still beat any woman pretty easily.

[BobbyOne]

Originally Posted by NLBwell

Thomas Muster came back to play Challengers after getting terribly out of shape and actually won a couple of matches and many of the matches were very competitive. Of course, that is at a level far higher than any woman, including Serena, plays. She probably wouldn't get more than a game or two if the Challenger guy relaxed a lot. Similarly, she would barely get a game from guys like Sampras or Rafter on the old guys tour. McEnroe is 8 years older than Muster and still plays a very high level of tennis, but even watching the tour on TV, I can tell he isn't as good as a few years ago. His game can still be mystifying, even to the former greats though, if he is playing well.
All in all, I'd say he'd still beat any woman pretty easily.

NLBwell, Muster on his comeback trail was mostly defeated clearly. McEnroe, given he was of same age, would have done better because he is a genius and Muster not. Also Borg failed terribly on his comeback trail.

[Volley123]

The more sanguine question is Serena can take Mac in a UFC match

[hoodjem]

Probably the best 50+-year-old player in the world.

[vandre]

Originally Posted by hoodjem

Probably the best 50+-year-old player in the world.

this. you can say that the powershares/ insert sponsor name here/ senior tour is a bunch of glorified exhibitions, but some of those guys still very much want to win and jmac just went through them like my kid goes through a box of diapers! i was watching him play in sweden on ttc this a.m. and he kicked the snot out of everyone there (some of them he beat 2 & 2). muster, larsen, ivanesevic and some other dudes were there (not a bunch of college players). serena would be lucky to get a couple games. mac is hitting the ball as hard as ever and is serving and moving well. his touch, the most important part of his game, hasn't gone away.

go ahead, someone set this up. all that's gonna happen is serena's gonna turn it into a ue fest after mac gets into net a few times. she's never faced anyone like mac before and she's gonna start going for broke. on second thought, don't set this up. it would be way too painful to watch!

[hoodjem]

Originally Posted by Volley123

The more sanguine question is Serena can take Mac in a UFC match

All she'd have to do is sit on him.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-400_162-...-or-offensive/

[elamarrj]

Originally Posted by hoodjem

All she'd have to do is sit on him.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-400_162-...-or-offensive/

she could sit on me and i would surrender right away

[NLBwell]

Originally Posted by BobbyOne

NLBwell, Muster on his comeback trail was mostly defeated clearly. McEnroe, given he was of same age, would have done better because he is a genius and Muster not. Also Borg failed terribly on his comebacktrail.

He lost in 3 sets 7 times and won 2 times out of 27 matches. So at least 1/3rd of the time, he was very competitive at the Challenger level.
Not bad for an old guy whose game is based on dominating the other player physically.
Of course McEnroe's game translates better to being old.

[bluetrain4]

No insult to Serena, but Mac would still beat her IMO. Seriously. It's just apples and oranges. I know Mac is in his mid 50s, but still. I've seen him play in plenty of events as he's got older and I'd have to say that his play and/or fitness has not dropped to a level yet where he couldn't beat Serena.