'Horrendous' McEnroe slips up

John McEnroe continues to attract crowds to the Honda Challenge at this august venue whether performing as Prince Charming or a pantomime villain. Last night he rose from the trap door, losing his opening round robin match to Henri Leconte, of France, a fellow left-hander, 6-4, 6-4.

Fretting over dubious line calls and his inability to get his game together, the 43-year-old McEnroe eventually let rip at the umpire, Jeremy Shales, and was warned for an audible obscenity. McEnroe must defeat Sweden's Mikael Pernfors tonight to stay in contention.

"I've not played this bad in a long time," the New Yorker said. "It was an horrendous effort. When I'm doing commentary, I've sometimes thought, 'Why is that guy not trying in a Grand Slam?' But I know it's not that he's not trying – he's trying, but he just can't do it. I had this bad feeling tonight. I kept doing the wrong things.

"I think I just wrote a new book on not only playing badly but then trying to get my way out of it.

"This afternoon I watched the TV, and there were the Davis Cup highlights. It was so inspiring. I was totally pumped-up and I was gonna show them. I've lost to Leconte two out of 31 times, so I wasn't thinking I was going to lose."

"It's a wake-up call. The only good part is that I'm not out of it yet. But there's no doubt I will be if I play like that – my days are numbered."

Lleyton Hewitt, who yesterday was confirmed as the men's world champion by the International Tennis Federation, has been compared to Andre Agassi, Michael Chang and Jimmy Connors. According to Pat Cash, however, Hewitt is a new version of Mats Wilander, "but Mats has a better serve".

Cash is something of an authority on Swedish players. In Melbourne in 1986, the rugged Australian serve and volleyer almost single-handedly overcame Sweden in the Davis Cup final. But he was frustrated by Swedes in five sets in consecutive Australian Open finals: by Stefan Edberg in 1987, in the last Grand Slam down under played on grass at Kooyong, and by Wilander in 1988.

That second Cash-Wilander final, played on Rebound Ace rubberised concrete in Flinders Park (now Melbourne Park) on the eve of Australia's bicentennial, was a talking point yesterday after Cash defeated Wilander, currently Sweden's Davis Cup captain, 7-6, 7-6, in the opening round robin match.

Everyone who was anyone in Australia in '88, from Bob Hawke, the prime minister, to Daphne, who ran a cafe in the television soap Neighbours, seemed to be in the crowd at the National Tennis Centre in Melbourne as Wilander recovered from two sets to one down to triumph, 8-6 in the fifth set.

For Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion, it was one of the most disappointing days of his career. For Wilander, it was the start of a magnificent year in which he won three of the four Grand Slam titles and became world No 1. Only the Wimbledon title eluded Wilander, who said he did not have Bjorn Borg's serve or speed to win from the baseline on the lawns at the world's most prestigious tournament.

Since then, both Agassi and Hewitt have counter-punched their way to Wimbledon glory, although Hewitt, like his compatriot Cash, has been unable to win his home Grand Slam. The 21-year-old Hewitt has time on his side, and will start as favourite at next month's Australian Open.

Cash and Wilander, meanwhile, continue to debate the relative merits of attacking and defensive styles and whether courts should be made slower or faster. Yesterday, when Cash showed glimpses of his exhilarating serve-volleying and Wilander hit some breathtaking passing shots, it was easy to predict who favoured what.

Britain's Jeremy Bates lost his opening match against Petr Korda, the 1998 Australian Open champion, 6-4, 6-2.