Yes, this is what it takes to get World Team Tennis on SportsCenter. (Notice at the beginning that it’s categorized as a “Tennis Incident”!) What’s next? A cage around the court? Helmets and body armor? Anna Kournikova Warrior Princess?
Seems to me that Kendrick completely overreacted to a standard doubles play and McEnroe should have stayed on his own side of the net. And what’s this about suspending the Sportimes coach? Somehow I missed that while reading all twenty sides of the story (click here.)
Tags: Kendrick, McEnroe, Paes, SportsCenter, World Team Tennis
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McEnroe is always the first to say when commentating that Lendl regularly beaned people at the net. It was his way of making his opponent think twice about going to the net. When did it become unsportsmanlike? It’s one thing if there was an open court, but Paes’s shot look valid to me.
Totally agree! Maybe he was just doing it for the crowd. I hear crossing to the opponents’ side of the net is a huge “no no.” Much worse than hitting someone during a doubles rally.
If he was doing it for attention, it worked!
Definitely an overreaction by Kendrick. Leander Paes has never been known as a hostile guy, so far as I know — just one of the world’s great doubles players. Maybe they were just trying to get the crowd excited….
Hola lk28! I have heard that Paes can be pretty prickly, but I can’t substantiate that. McEnroe should have shown him some more respect, but I guess that’s not JMac’s forte. It’s obvious that Kendrick is quite the drama queen, based on his performance against Murray in the first round of Wimbledon (all that diving!) Heck, I love the drama! Keep it coming, guys!
*dons best imitation of a scolding mother* Aww, Keeeendriiick, I am VERY disappointed in you! You were a VERY bad boy indeed!
To be honest, I kind of like all of that macho “you hit me with a volley-tomali! Well man, take this, I’m goina pop you with my massive serve..kiss my ace biotch!” routine XD . I think it’s great. I mean, it IS WTT, it’s all about the fun right?
What I DON’T like is how all of these officials and suits are getting involved in the players business. They always overreact and go overboard with their “disciplining”. Life would be a lot better if The Man would stay the hell out of it! The umpire looks like a complete wuss, I’m sure when the “female folk with cooties” stepped in he went into “OMG, the ones with bumps under their shirts are coming” mode and panicked. The penalty point was a joke. The suspension of the coach was ludicrous.
Let the players get into an altercation now and again. Heck, these people see A LOT of each other traveling to tournaments all the time. Like siblings who share a room, they are bound to get on each others nerves now and again. Just let them bicker and sort it out. Are they that afraid of anything resembling human emotion?
I don’t know much about Paes personality, but I do know that Bobby Kendrick won me over in that match against Murray at Wimbledon. He was a blast to watch. I really couldn’t remember him from anywhere but what I saw of him in that match, I liked. The way he ruffled Murray’s feathers and the two of them went at each other, shooting glares over the net, producing great tennis. It was fantastic interaction. I thought his Diving Exit was hysterical.
After seeing this clip my feelings haven’t changed. I like the guy.