By Tim Saunders on
Former tennis star John McEnroe returned to the courts this week to raise money for breast cancer care.
The 49-year-old battled it out with 1998 Australian Open winner Justin Gimelstob at Dellwood Country Club in New York on Monday to raise money for the breast cancer care centers at Englewood and Nyack hospitals. And in a brilliant return to form, McEnroe defeated the 31-year-old Gimelstob 10-6 in a super-tiebreaker.
“Whenever I go on the court, I play to win. So if I didn’t think I could play, I wouldn’t play,” said McEnroe. “I can play pretty well for about an hour, so I figure I should be able to finish him off in that time frame.”
It actually took the legend a little longer than that to pull off the win – half an hour longer in fact – but he did it with style and even threw in a few of his trademark referee abuses for good luck. He also rolled up his sleeves and pulled at the back of his shorts to imitate Rafael Nadal to raise a few laughs.
“I’m in a pretty lucky position that I can come out and have some people be somewhat interested in what I say or do still at this age,” he said. “I try to set an example as far as tennis being a sport you can play for a long time.”
Gimelstob also acted as auctioneer at a special charity auction as part of the event, with items such as two hours in Arthur Ashe Stadium, an Andy Roddick signed game-used racket, and even a quick doubles match with McEnroe and Gimelstob up for grabs.
The event also included a number of other matches spread over 5 days, and netted $1,125,000 for the hospitals.
Copyright © 2008 Look to the Stars
