Calling the Shots:

It didn’t take long for John McEnroe to answer the first question posed to him during a pre-match press conference at Newport Beach Country Club Tuesday.

Who’s the greatest men’s tennis player of all time?

“Roger [Federer], I guess,” he said. “I would have to go with him. [Rod] Laver is my idol. Pete [Sampras] may be the quickest, best grass court player. Roger’s the most beautiful guy I’ve ever seen, watching him.”

Perhaps because of Federer, who has won a record 15 Grand Slam singles championships, McEnroe’s place among the greats is moving down. Rafael Nadal might also have something to do with that. At least McEnroe gave that indication, a bit tongue-in-cheek, but he’s always been known as a straight shooter.

“I’m slipping in the rankings,” said McEnroe, answering where would he rank himself among the greats. “But hopefully I’m still in the top 10. I’m struggling a bit recently. A couple of guys moving past me. If you combined everything, hopefully they combine like doubles, singles, Davis Cup, seniors, maybe I’d move up a little higher.”

Playing at the net and putting pressure on the opponent is what made McEnroe great, he said of himself. But most know Mac for his character. He seemed a bit laid back during the press conference, but he was still able to show the stuff that made him famous during his playing career.

And the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion showed it before a World Team Tennis match at Breakers Stadium. Granted it was a meaningless match, as both the Breakers and New York Sportimes had clinched playoff spots.

But then again, what event is meaningless with McEnroe on hand?

He beat the Breakers’ fan favorite Ramon Delgado, 5-4 (5-2 tiebreaker), as part of the Sportimes’ 24-14 win.

At 50, he’s still as tenacious as ever. He showed that last week as he argued when he saw a teammate of his get hit by a shot against the Washington Kastles.

So it came as no surprise that Mac appeared agitated when he fielded a question from Lyn Jensen of the Random Lengths, Harbor Independent News. Jensen, a reporter from Carson, wanted to know how today’s players would fare in McEnroe’s era.

He never really answered the question, mainly just pointing out the aspects of yesteryear and today.

So, later Jensen pointed out again how interesting it would be for today’s players to compete in the past era.

“Well you’re not gonna see it, so just dream about it,” McEnroe told the reporter. “Worry about how Babe Ruth would fare against the top hitters of today or how Bill Russell would do against the top basketball players. We could go on and on. But the bottom line is it’s someone’s opinion. I would love to play with a wooden racquet. It was beautiful. But it’s not going to happen.”

After that, Jensen’s archaic camera flashed at McEnroe, causing another face that he appeared to be annoyed, as if he was saying, “You can’t be serious.”

Still, McEnroe did answer every question, even one that had nothing to do with tennis. It was about one of the hot sports topics of the day, should troubled quarterback Michael Vick be allowed to play again in the NFL after serving time for his involvement with dog fighting?

“I think so,” McEnroe said. “I think he’s completely lost his career at the moment ... There’s a lot of guys that have made mistakes that have been given other chances ....

Only in the last six, seven years, I became a dog lover because of my kids. I see it in a different way.

“But obviously people have strong feelings, but I still think he should be given a second chance.”