Muster is hoping to become a global brand under the Tom Special concept: now there’s Tom’s Water, Tom’s Wine, Tom’s Fashion (tennis, leisure, polo shirts); he calls them “Lifestyle Brands” (Ed. Note – must be an Austrian thing; I tried to check with Mikey but he had the girls at a theme park today! – PB).
In his biography, Pat Cash shows a lot of disdain for Muster – he even writes “I wandered why Muster disappeared so abruptly from the tour when drugs started to become an issue”. Maybe that was the reason why they almost got into a punch-up earlier this year, after some close encounters several years ago on the regular tour. But at Vale do Lobo they were cool with each other. Apparently.
Baba Rios
Marcelo Rios is an enigma. I think his bad reputation snowballed and he uses it as a way to keep people away from him. He certainly is someone everybody loves to hate - or used to.
At the Tour of Champions, he knows he has to give something back, otherwise he won’t get invited again – meaning no money. So, he tries to be a bit nicer than he was back in the time when he used to insult reporters in the interview room and break kids’ pens when they asked him for autographs. Still, at Vale do Lobo, the South American often resorted to monosyllabic answers.
Anyway, he made the trip to Portugal with an old friend, a stringer – no signs of curvaceous blondes (he’s had two painful divorces with starlets), but someone fancied him particularly at Vale do Lobo: Jose Castelo Branco, a self-proclaimed marchand d’art and androgynous figure from the Portuguese jet-set who takes pride on being, well, let’s say. . .effeminate. And he sure liked Rios’ macho demeanour and looks – or was it the Chilean’s shaved legs?
In one of Rios matches, Castelo Branco (picture-Google him!) voiced his Sympathy for the Devil out loud – by the way, the Rolling Stones played in Portugal the next day – and after the match, he rushed on to meet Rios.
‘El Chino’ stopped, took a quick look at the odd character, smiled a stunned smile and fired: “Heh, mariconita!”.
Castelo Branco, who’s accustomed to every kind of reaction to his unique persona, looked thunderstruck. He charged on again later on, wanting to take a picture with Rios after the final – by then, someone had explained to the Chilean who Castelo Branco was, so Rios posed. The last time I saw the two of them was at the players’ restaurant – Castelo Branco came along and crooned “Maaaarceeeloooo”, and Rios (sporting a t-shirt with the inscription "Ali Baba Was My Friend") replied “mi amooor”.
That was my cue to go.
Now, seriously: Rios still is a heck of a player – the same ponytail, same flowing ease and virtuosity as he opened one angle after another with his smooth forehand/backhand combo (Ed. note - Rios also won last week's senior event in Graz).
I think Rios could get back into the Top 100 on the main tour - easily. But he admitted having neither the motivation nor desire to do the work it would take. Rios is one of the most talented players ever to play on a tennis court; his talent is so obvious it blinds you, even though Nick Bollettieri didn’t want him when he was a kid. He figured Marcelo was too small for top tennis.
Well, Mr. B., let me tell you: We’ve all learned that Rios plays well above his height, thanks to his perfect timing and feline anticipation.
Plus, Rios hits a heavy ball. The guy won three Masters Series and the now-extinct Grand Slam Cup (in 1998). In his prime, he often toyed with opponents – including Andre Agassi. When he won Indian Wells and Miami in succession, he was playing like a god – albeit a lesser deity whose best Grand Slam performances were an Australian Open final and two quarterfinals at Roland Garros.
What goes on in his head? “Everything and nothing at the same time”, says Jorge Dias, the Vale do Lobo Grand Champions referee and a former elite chair umpire (he worked the Ivanisevic-Rafter 2001 Wimbledon final). But I have to say that, for all the trash-talking and cockiness, Rios showed a lot of respect towards McEnroe in the end. And ditto for Mac regarding Rios.
Daddy Cool
John McEnroe seemed pretty cool (as in mellow) to me this year, probably because this time he brought his daughters Ava and Anna (who are 7 and 10, respectively) with him. And also, because even the fierce competitor in him accepts that a guy like Rios is playing on another level – after all, the Chilean is 17 years younger, and you can’t beat time.
It was funny to hear someone in the crowd shout “Johnny, B. Cool!” during the final, and McEnroe paying attention and winning the next three points. Actually, I think John’s problem was he could never show on court the sense of humour he is capable of showing off it.
Mac was always polite to me and took his time to answer all my questions. He knows me by now. Of course, this year I also tried to get more familiar by saying “Your father told me your hologram at the Wimbledon Museum was filmed in New York” (I didn’t tell him Mr. McEnroe had told me that through TennisWorld. . . heh, heh, heh).
Mac asked me if I had liked it and then recalled “We filmed it in New York, in the same studio where they shoot The Sopranos; I wasn’t sure it would work and it had to be made in just one take – afterwards I realised it was worth it.”
After the final against Rios, and the on-court interview, Hugo, the media director, went after McEnroe and told him I had an extra question. Mac had his shower and was surprisingly (given that he lost) relaxed. He grabbed a beer and then showed some emotion when I asked him about Bjorn Borg’s trophies – I could sense there is still a strong brotherly-like bond between them.
“I was asked about it (Borg wanting to sell his Wimbledon trophies) and I didn’t want to talk about it without discussing it with Bjorn, so I called him,” said Mac. “It wasn’t a question of money. After the story made a lot of noise, Bjorn realised what was going on and stepped back. I told him: ‘At least give me the 1980 one, I feel like I took a part on it’.
"It was nice, because I feel like the subject brought us together again; we didn’t talk as much as we should so it was good for us.”
Mac shows a lot of genuine respect for Bjorn; respecting Borg was the reason why he always behaved when he played against the Swede.
While we're on Bjorn: Sir Cliff Richard – the eternal prince of British pop – came in to say hello to John. The tennis loving singer of Living Doll also has a house in the Algarve region and he’s a regular at the event; he praised the Portuguese beaches, commented on the terrorist threat and said he’s fit and still playing tennis regularly. So is McEnroe, gladly.
And racquets aren’t the only instrument Mac plays. He played guitar at last year’s closing party at Vale do Lobo, alongside Mats Wilander and the other guys (Cash opted to stay away, even though he couldn’t resist taking a look at what was going on up there on stage).
Not this year: Mac was the first one to fly away, and since Wilander and Noah didn’t come, none of the players participated on the concert.
What a shame.
To finish up the Mac file, McEnroe had this comment on Connors coaching A-Rod: “It was time to do something different, and Connors has credibility."
Hey, he actually misses Connors!
I think Mac really misses the old days of wooden racquets, serving-and-volleying, and riots on the court. It’s a shame his old nemesis Ivan Lendl is not able to play officially again because of insurance issues.
Checkered Champ
Pat Cash seemed pretty relaxed to me at Vale do Lobo as well. Last year, he brought his sexy daughter Mia, who attracted the attention of a lot of young Portuguese dudes – though she kept them at bay, showing she’s as fierce as her father. This year, Pat made the trip with his terrible twins Shannon and Jett.
My first one-on-one experience with Cash was a mixed one, back in 1994 (as told in the TennisWorld post Back By Popular Demand, which I wrote during Wimbledon). But he’s been great ever since.
Recently, he's given me a couple of his trademark checkered bandanas; this year I offered him a checkered wristband – he didn’t know brands like Puma and Deuce were making them. I’m a sucker for black & white checkered stuff and told him he should apply the concept to a clothing line of his own, much like the Mille Miglia vintage car race applies it to its merchandising items. But he told me Sergio Tacchini, his sponsor back in the Wimbledon glory days, didn’t want to do it.
We sat in the sun after one of his matches and discussed several subjects. I reminded him that Brad Gilbert was back coaching and Jimmy Connors was taking his chances with Andy Roddick; would Pat consider being back on tour coaching someone or being Davis Cup captain? “Not yet, these days the players show no respect towards their coaches; maybe Agassi and Henman are the only ones who do.”
I asked Cash if the bad experiences he had with Greg Rusedski and Mark Philippoussis still hurt. He told me, “Rusedski and Philippoussis are idiots - you can write that”.
Read his biography for more. . .
Another issue I wanted to discuss with Cash was his feud with McEnroe. After Cash released his biography, Uncovered, the word in the pressroom at Wimbledon was that Mac refused to share the commentary booth with the Aussie (they both work for the BBC) because Pat wrote in his book: “McEnroe can be one of the most disagreeable human beings on a tennis court”.
So, I asked Cash point blank, “Did you get sidelined by Mac?”. He told me he didn’t think so, but then added, reluctantly, that he had asked around if that was true and found no evidence to support the claim. And he added, “He’s (McEnroe) very much like Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde. Everyone has problems with him, and if he behaves the way he does on court and treats people the way he does, how can he react the way he did because I said that on my book? That says a lot about him”.
I told Cash I liked his commentary and analysis; then we both agreed Boris Becker really sucks at it.
The Quiet German
A final word for calm and collected Carl-Uwe Steeb, who’s still incredibly fit (his game is still ugly as well) and played well enough to beat Thomas Muster in the match for the third place. Steeb was both Becker and Stich’s sidekick on three different winning German Davis Cup teams, but he didn’t last long when he was named captain.
“Germany should have done much better in the Davis Cup”, he said. “We didn’t - not because of Tommy Haas, who actually has team spirit, but because of Nicolas Kiefer. The Davis Cup team should learn what team spirit is with the national soccer team. Now that the years have passed by, they look back and realise they want to do something, but I’m afraid it’s too late”.
Well, there are a couple of things left in my notepad, but I’ll leave them for another time. Right now, the beach is waiting for me – I hope you enjoyed the focus on the old timers, folks.
- Miguel Seabra, at Vale do Lobo, Algarve, Portugal. Over and out!
