Overlook his sunken chest and skinny arms and untoned legs. It's easy to see, as the bathing suit-clad fans applaud him at practice for this weekend's semifinal against Spain, that he still has something special. He still shouts at himself or fumes in silence when he misses a shot, still drops his racket in disgust at times and kicks the clay. He's still crazy after all these years, his love and angst for the game undiminished. They used to say the best doubles team in the world was John McEnroe and anybody else, and when he now occasionally makes those sublime shots with his artistry of old, the thought, or perhaps the wish, slips in that maybe it's still true.
Trouble is, a Davis Cup match is more than just a few moments in the sun.
And against Spain, in this resort town near Bilbao, it's on a red clay that never was much to McEnroe's liking. Yet McEnroe, the captain of a U.S. squad abandoned by Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and rejected by Michael Chang, sounds as if he's leaning toward throwing himself into the fray and seeing if he can find a way to win this round. I think Spain has underachieved for 20 years. I'm sure they're going to be feeling the heat. Todd Martin and Jan-Michael Gambill will play the singles matches Friday, most likely against two of the sport's most formidable clay courters, Alex Corretja and Juan Carlos Ferrero.