Finally I attended my first PowerShares Series tennis event at the Amway Center in Orlando, FL last Thursday. Featured on this evening would be the ageless John McEnroe, Andy Roddick, Jim Courier and James Blake.
When I arrive at just before 4:30, Courier and McEnroe are on the court hitting with local players. Â The Amway Center is the home of the Orlando Magic, and located just off of Interstate 4. It’s interesting how the arena is crammed into a tight location entwined by overpasses and city features.
McEnroe finishes first and then does a couple of softball media interviews with two TV guys and then me. It’s a pretty cool feeling to be recognized by a legend when he says, Hi Scoop. I give John a copy of Facing McEnroe and ask a couple of questions about Facing Andy Murray.
Jim Courier is next and he also shares some interesting comments about a dream prime vs prime match vs Andy Murray in an Australian Open final: Â “That would be a physical encounter. That would be a real battle…I’d like my chances and I’m sure he’d like his chances. Put it this way: I’d want him to hit a lot of forehands and he’d want me to hit a lot of backhands.”
Andy and James entertain the locals on the court for a good half hour and they actually do lose a few points. All of the players participating in this pro-am are pretty good, even if a few have very unorthodox techniques, all the players hold their own and maintain good rallies with the ATP legends. The most memorable point was when Blake, on the deuce court, hits a swerving curving forehand swing volley which the enthusiastic young male opponent chases fruitlessly to near the player changeover chair, almost causing a catastrophic crash. But the scrapper barely averts the disaster and the hitting session continues without a blink.
Both Blake and Roddick, just 34, look super fit and could still probably be top 100 ATP players. It’s interesting that Roddick now wears New Balance shoes and Travis Mathew attire, and he plays with a blacked out racquet, no sign of old sponsors Babolat and Lacoste. Roddick still has his great sense of humor, sharing some funny zingers about Facing Murray, including: Â “It was frustrating. You always felt like you were kind of trying to solve a puzzle – and the puzzle was better than you [laughs].” Â Roddick had a 3-8 career head to head record vs the Super Scot. Blake also shares fascinating insights about his three encounters with Murray at different stages of Andy’s career.
After Roddick and Blake finish, Courier takes the court again to hit again with McEnroe, and then Courier hits for a few minutes with 2016 British Open champion Henrik Stenson of Sweden. Orlando resident Stenson, who was the European golfer of the year and a Ryder Cup star for Team Europe, shows off some excellent tennis skills, actually holding his own in rallies with his buddy Courier. Stenson bends down low and hits each ball cleanly. Very impressive play by the pro golfer who told us after that he hasn’t hit a ball in months and never took a lesson as a youngster. (Look out for my feature about Stenson and tennis later this month.)
Some old familiar faces also attended the event, including the media relations rep for the Powershares Tour Randy Walker, ATP legends Greg Sharko and Weller Evans, and The Koz Dave Kozlowski. The media room is adjacent to the stringer’s room (yes, they actually have a stringer’s room set up) and the press meal is a healthy and tasty chicken and spinach.
The atmosphere is electric when the first match combatants take the court – Courier vs McEnroe. I’m stunned by how many people are in the house. The boxing ring, pardon, court entrances with the rock music and video highlight show strike all your nostalgic feelings of how many hours you have watched each of this masters play the game of tennis. And they still can play incredible tennis too. Their basic forms are still intact, nothing has really changed. Courier, 46, still has that blockbuster forehand, the eccentric baseball backhand and that explosive service motion. McEnroe, who turns 58 next month, still hits all the targets with his serves, and his movements are as elegant and artistic as ever. And of course the dissatisfaction with any remotely questionable line call. The two tennis titans put on an excellent show, as usual.
I’m standing right behind the front row behind the one baseline, directly behind Stenson, Jim Courier’s mom Linda, and Asian wife and young boy Kellen. Courier’s son sits on mom’s lap and is entranced by the action, never taking his eyes off the court and even applauding after a few points. The kid has to be only two or three years old but already has an evident love and fascination with tennis. I actually hope the kid will turn his head to look around the arena so I can get a good look at how he looks and if he looks like his famous poppa but little Kellen never does turn his head and I never do get to see his face! Talk about focus!
Courier wins a thrilling set 6-4.
Next up, before Blake vs Roddick, they do a little exhibition with Stenson and Courier and then a selected fan tries to hit target which have been set up. But they sneak on a former pro who lives locally, Robert Kendrick. Kendrick, who played on the Tour and battled the likes of Nadal and Murray at majors, plays the role of the ringer and hits the targets with ease. Â Kendrick now lives in Orlando with his wife and daughter and he coaches at a country club.
Roddick, who will be enshrined at the Newport Tennis Hall of Fame this summer, is still the same Roddick though his legs looks more muscular and thicker now. He still has that monster serve and defeats Blake and then Courier in the final. The quality of tennis is excellent and everybody is happy.
I have to say after witnessing my first PowerShares event live in person after seeing it many times on TV, that the entertainment value of the legend’s tennis is excellent and an important aspect of the American tennis culture. There is still a desire to see our favorite historical tennis champions play the wonderful sport of tennis. It’s like seeing a renowned artist create another masterpiece, or at least making the attempt, another joyful attempt. Â -By Scoop Malinowski
 
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Scoop Malinowski · January 12, 2017 at 12:04 pm
I spoke about this event to tennis friends after and all of them expressed that they didn’t know about this event in Orlando and if they did they would like to see McEnroe play. It seems McEnroe is still the main ticket seller. The way I learned about this event was through a tennis friend who mentioned it about a week before it was played (Jan 5), I had no idea either it was taking place.