McEnroe plays the grumpy assassin to gun down Forget

Ageing 'Superbrat' shows that his ability to insult and entertain has not declined even if his playing career is living on borrowed time

There is serious. There is obsessive. And there is John McEnroe. The 44-year-old New Yorker won the Honda Challenge senior tour event for a fourth time here yesterday and vowed to continue playing for another two years.

That would still make McEnroe a beginner compared to Jean Borotra (1898-1994), who won a record 155 matches at Wimbledon and still competed in men's and mixed doubles when he was 65. The "Bounding Basque from Biarritz" was in his nineties when he said he worried that he would die before he had played enough tennis.

McEnroe, whose career was in the heat of the Open era, is not that desperate to carry the flame for the old-timers. Audiences at the Royal Albert Hall will have to make do with welcoming McEnroe back next year when the tournament is upgraded as the Masters of the Delta Tour of Champions, and hope that his legs keep him going as long as his heart desires.

"I'm running out of time - that's why the urgency," McEnroe said after defeating Guy Forget, France's Davis Cup and Fed Cup captain, six years his junior, in yesterday's final 7-6, 6-2.

Forget, who had treatment for an aching left shoulder with McEnroe leading, 2-1, in the second set - an ailment caused by trying to return the American's serve - met Borotra socially, but prefers to compare McEnroe's longevity with that of Martina Navratilova.

"It took Martina a lot of hard work to get fit enough to make a comeback in doubles at the top level," Forget said, "but she was the best player in the Fed Cup finals at 47.

"The reason why John beats the younger players on the senior tour is because he plays more often. When you play John, you have to be 100 per cent fit. With the right partner, I think he would still make the semi-finals of the majors in doubles."

Forget, who won the Honda Challenge in 2001, added: "Stefan Edberg, who plays two hours a day, doesn't want to join the tour. If Stefan decides to play, he'll kill everybody."

There were times here last week when McEnroe seemed ready to damage one or two umpires and line judges, but his matches would not be the same unless he had the demeanour of an assassin.

Midway through the opening set of the final, he called the umpire, John Parry, "Friggin' Big Balls", and told him to let the players decide the match and stop "screwing up".

When the spectators laughed, McEnroe turned on them, shouting: "You might think it's funny, but it's not funny for me."

Part of the entertainment is that spectators are never quite sure when McEnroe is playing the villain and when he is merely a pantomime villain.

"It's a little of both," McEnroe admitted. "I'm certainly very into it. There's no doubt about that. But there were some pretty weak line calls on both sides. I got lucky early in the match, when they missed one, which was unbelievable."

That point ended with McEnroe breaking for 2-0 even though his forehand volley landed wide, prompting Forget to complain.

The Frenchman broke back in the fifth game and then held for 3-3. McEnroe saved three break points from 40-0 down at 5-5, and made the most of his superior serving to win the tie-break, 7-3.

McEnroe dominated the second set, breaking for 2-0 and 5-2 and hitting three aces when serving out the match after 78 minutes. He then left to catch an overnight flight to New York. But not, be assured, because he thought London was not big enough for Johnny Mac and Jonny Wilko.

HONDA CHALLENGE (Royal Albert Hall, London) Semi-finals: J M McEnroe (US) bt M Stich (Ger) 6-4 7-5; G Forget (Fr) bt H Leconte (Fr) 7-6 6-3. Final: McEnroe bt Forget 7-6 6-2. Third/fourth-place play-off: Leconte bt Stich 8-6 (pro set).