NEWS- Wish you were {t}here- Pete Sampras v. John McEnroe at JPJ, July 20, 2007

John McEnroe can be serious, occasionally.
PHOTO BY TOM DALY

It was quite a rowdy affair.

"You cannot be serious," John McEnroe's famous phrase– it's even the title of his 2002 autobiography– was incessantly used to promote the match. But whether he actually uttered it last Friday, July 20, at the John Paul Jones Arena, we're not exactly sure, though there was plenty of racquet-dropping, court-tumbling, and call-challenging from the 48-year-old tennis legend.

The audience even got into the act. McEnroe's 35-year-old opponent, tennis legend Pete Sampras, had to deal not only with catcalls, but at one point when he appeared to be losing, a man in the stands shouted in discouragement: "He's old enough to be your grandfather." 

Sampras ended up the winner in the best-of-three sets match, but it was close: 6-3, 6-7, 10-8.

The evening that opened with a match between a pair of Special Olympians was capped by a celebrity doubles match featuring McEnroe and Dave Matthews Band violinist Boyd Tinsley against Sampras and local television reporter Autria Godfrey. 

At one point, Tinsley, who was having trouble with his serve, got some help from McEnroe, as the former enfant terrible sat on the net to lower it. Still, Sampras and Godfrey won the match three games to one.