AMID 1985 TURMOIL, McENROE FINDS SOME PEACE
By ROY S. JOHNSON
IT is early morning. Much too early, it seems, for John McEnroe. He is standing, tall and slender with his uncombed curly locks blowing in the breeze,
in the middle of the tarmac here at the airport in this tiny, remote town on the eastern coast of Lower California. He says nothing. But his look -
tiny eyes squinting in the sunlight above an angular, unshaven jaw and a thin half-smile -conveyed much more about his state of mind last Saturday
than any words could have. Clearly, McEnroe would rather have remained in bed. Instead, he is leaving Loreto, where he is in the second year of a
five-year contract to serve as the touring pro for the newly built Loreto Tennis Center, and boarding a seven-passenger jet for Mexico City. There, he
and three other professional tennis players will meet President Miguel de la Madrid of Mexico and his wife, Paloma, then stage an exhibition that will
raise $80,000 to aid victims of the devastating earthquake that rocked the country earlier this year. As McEnroe settles comfortably into the leather
seat, the rising sun creates a stunning montage of browns, reds and yellows on the majestic Sierra de la Gigante, visible through the small window
beside him. The result is a portrait of serenity that somehow seems odd. Odd because serenity is a condition that tends to avoid John McEnroe. Chaos
and controversy stalk him instead. |
As Barney Fife would say "Surprise, Surprise".
