|
Sunday, September 3 Trump offers $1M take-all match Associated Press |
||||||||||
NEW YORK -- If Donald Trump's $1 million winner-take-all offer for a Venus Williams vs. John McEnroe match in one of his Atlantic City casinos ever comes about, Tracy Austin is betting on Mac.
Austin, who works with McEnroe on USA Network telecasts of the Open, considered the proposed match.
"I was No. 1 in the world and my brother, John, was No. 40 or 50 on the men's tour, and he would have killed me," she said. "Men are faster and hit the ball harder. My money's on you, John, no offense to the Williams sisters. But it would be great for tennis."
McEnroe, who sparked Trump's offer with comments in a magazine interview that neither Venus nor Serena Williams would last long in a match against most men's players, was not immediately available for comment.
For the record, when the proposal was related to Richard Williams, Venus' father and coach said: "We're not interested."
Chased away
The event, held at the Garden under a number of sponsors since 1972, is moving to Munich beginning in 2001.
"We are disappointed to see the Chase Championships leave the world's biggest stage and largest media market," said Joel Fisher, senior vice president of MSG Sports. "We have enjoyed our long-running relationship with the WTA Tour and wish them future success."
Fisher said the Garden hopes to announce a replacement tennis event "in the very near future," and reportedly is negotiating with International Management Group, which represents a number of top players.
Late break
"Sums up my Grand Slams really this year," Henman said. "I played a lot of good tennis, but it's frustrating to lose all four of them in five sets."
Henman was beaten by Chris Woodruff in a fifth set at the Australian Open, by Fernando Vicente in a fifth at the French and by Mark Philippoussis in a fifth at Wimbledon.
"I played some really, really good tennis, a continuation of the way I played all summer," he said. |
|