McEnroe displays fighting qualities

The old familiar notes, a little jaded but, like all classics, the old tunes brought the crowd at the Point back to familiar ground in the KPMG Challenge. Jagger and Richards, McEnroe and Borg. In a tennis sense prehistoric but here they were both flourishing 40-somethings belting it out any way it came like some tribute band to 1980's tennis and the crowd lapping it up.

John McEnroe still menacing but not now the menace, more craggy featured but a reasonable facsimile of the old Wimbledon champion. Bjorn Borg's glacial expression continued to provide that 20-year antidote to McEnroe's ticks and jerks but it was the New Yorker who has borne the years better.

Before the match McEnroe was invited out on court to receive his third successive Senior's Tour Player of the Year award. Not a bad psychological hitch-up for a player who famously did what he could to scramble opponent's minds be it on Centre Court or Flushing Meadow.

Borg, however, was not perturbed. McEnroe had a slowburning start but when he decided to pick up his game it was of a noticeably higher tempo to that of the Swede. Still, it took McEnroe five games to win his first point off the Borg serve as the game moved inexorably towards a tiebreak in the first set.

It was here McEnroe was dominant as the games built to 6-6 before he finally closed it out to go a set ahead. Borg much more active around the court compared to last year played his nerveless role to the end. McEnroe threw his racket, put his hands on his hips and looked to the crowd for support. Borg's face, frozen in a permanent state of "so what" picked up the racket, handed it to the American and walked back to his rightful position on the court leaving McEnroe huffing and puffing what ever it is that goes on in his head.

The second set again went with serve after a quick exchange in the first two games. But in the 12th Borg almost handed it to the favourite going a point down then missing a sitter of a volley and double faulting to give McEnroe match point.

But just like the old times the Swede climbed out of the 0-40 hole, stretched the set to a tiebreak after a few easy points from McEnroe and won it 7-3. And so it went to a Champions tie-break, a special concoction for the Seniors Tour where the first to 10 wins, provided it is by two points.

Again McEnroe picked up a gear, especially in his serving and when he moved into a more offensive mode quickly raced to a 6-1 lead. From there even Borg couldn't escape, McEnroe winning 10-4 for the match.

McEnroe is already streaking away in the overall league table after nine events. He currently tops the list of players with 2,850 points, almost three times that of his nearest rival Henri Leconte on 980 points. Borg holds position at a respectable third with 895 points.

Earlier in the day Pat Cash was forced to go to a tie-breaker after coming back from 6-7 down in the first set to win the second 6-4 against Switzerland's Davis Cup captain Jakob Hlasek. Cash then took the tiebreak 10-5.

Michael Pernfors unsurprisingly beat the older John Lloyd 6-4 6-3.