Patrick McEnroe's singles tennis has never come easy, unlike another more famous member of the family.
But John McEnroe's younger brother has been putting in extra time on the practice court, and it's paying off. Last weekend, Patrick won his first singles titles at the New South Wales Open in Sydney. Today, he upset third-seeded Boris Becker 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) in the first round of the Australian Open."It's not something that just happens," McEnroe said. "Over a course of time, it's a lot of hard work. I'm always looking for something to try to improve."
It all came together against Becker, along with a bit of luck.
"I tried to keep my consistency throughout, keep my serves in and hope he had an off-night," said McEnroe. "He obviously did."
It was the fourth time that Becker has lost in the first round of a Grand Slam and the second time in the Australian Open following a 1993 loss to Anders Jarryd. It was also McEnroe's biggest victory in a Grand Slam, and helped avenge his loss to Becker in the 1991 Australian Open semifinal.
"I just played bad tennis," said Becker, the No. 3 seed. "I had no timing, no rhythm, especially on my forehand. And I played against an opponent who was still flying high on his emotions."
The upsets continued in the women's draw, where fifth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini, coming off consecutive victories in the New South Wales Open and last year's Virginia Slims Championship, strained her lower right back and lost 6-4, 6-4 to Marianne Werdel Witmeyer.
McEnroe, guiding backhand cross-court winners within inches of the lines, ran into trouble only in the third set when Becker went up 3-0 and 5-2. But McEnroe slowly clawed his way back into the set to force it into a tiebreaker.
McEnroe appeared to demoralize Becker with a sharp backhander that hit the corner for a winner to open the tiebreak on Becker's serve. Becker was never able to get the minibreak back, hitting three of the last four points into the net off McEnroe's strong serves.
Sabatini, regarded as a strong contender in the absence of injured Steffi Graf, had to take an injury timeout while trailing 3-4 in the second set. She had led the set 3-0.
Sabatini, who lost to Werdel Witmeyer in their last meeting in Tokyo in 1993, lay face down while a trainer massaged her back for several minutes. But Werdel Witmeyer felt that she would have won even if Sabatini hadn't been hurt.
Earlier Andre Agassi, with a purple bandana wrapped around his closely cropped head, and checkered shorts and baggy striped shirt clashing, played like a million bucks in his Australian Open debut even if he didn't look it.
He beat qualifier Grant Stafford 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.
"Being down here is a reflection of my commitment and sacrifices that I feel need to be made in order to maximize whatever years I may have," Agassi said. "In the past it interfered with my priorities which was to keep a very balanced lifestyle between my professional and my personal life."
There was no such joy for China's Fang Li, who wept uncontrollably near the end of her match against top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Li, who turned 22 on New Year's Day, buried her head in a towel when she was trailing 5-0 in the second set.