World Team Tennis gets underway soon, and the roster of players has been determined by an annual draft. Eleven teams will play in a series of matches between July 2nd and July 26th. To find out when the teams will be playing near you check the WTT website for the schedule.
Former great John McEnroe has offered to help Roger Federer rediscover his form after the Swiss suffered a series of uncharacteristic defeats this year.
Since the start of the season, Federer has failed to win a tournament or beat any of his rivals ranked in the world’s top four.
After the world number two’s latest loss to Serbia‘s Novak Djokovic on Friday, when he was knocked out of the Sony Ericsson Open in the semi-finals, McEnroe said he was willing to lend a helping hand.
“I would really like to help Roger. Especially as he needs to change his strategy if he wants to beat Nadal. And I have an idea about that,” the American was quoted as saying in the French weekly Le Journal du Dimanche on Saturday.
“I can’t see myself accompanying a player all year long but it could be really interesting to help out from time to time.”
Federer has failed to beat his greatest rival Rafael Nadal for almost 18 months and has emerged second best in their last five meetings, including five-set final thrillers at last July’s Wimbledon and at the Australian Open in February.
McEnroe said the Spaniard could cause Federer, who is one shy of Pete Sampras‘s all time grand slam title record of 14, even more problems in the future.
“I think (Federer) will beat Pete Sampras’s record of 14 grand slam wins. But it will not be easy at all for him to become world number one again,” McEnroe, a former world number one himself, said.
“Even though Roger is a fantastic player, I think that Nadal will play at a higher level this year than last year provided he stays in a good shape. It could be hard for Roger to keep up.”
Congratulations to Wimbledon legend John McEnroe, who turns 50 today. The titles and tantrums have made the American one of the best known tennis personalities ever, but where does he rate in terms of talent? For Grand Slam titles he stands 12th in the all-time list with seven – four US Opens and three Wimbledons – and let’s not forget his nine Grand Slam men’s doubles titles and one Grand Slam mixed doubles title. But does that 12th place do justice to a man Pat Cash once described as “the best player that’s ever walked on a tennis court”? And what of his famous outbursts? “You cannot be serious!” became part of the national lexicon after his explosion during a second-round match against Tom Gullikson at Wimbledon in 1981. “You guys are the absolute pits of the world, you know that?” he roared, to the astonishment of everyone watching.
![“In 2013, if they play on blue [clay], they can have their own tournament but I am not coming for sure,” says Djokovic!](http://media.zenfs.com/fr_ca/News/Capress/568c386ad50e4de0a7335b7de7e_11_05_2012_192755-0400_high.jpg)
