Tennis: McEnroe withdraws his Cup captaincy bid: The popular choice decides against leading American Davis Cup team

(First Edition)

HAVING made no secret of his desire to become captain of the American Davis Cup team, John McEnroe has withdrawn his name from consideration due to personal reasons. A successor to Tom Gorman, who stepped down after eight years, is expected to be announced next week.

McEnroe said he had left open the option of returning to the Davis Cup as a player and had not ruled out the possibility of the US team captaincy in the future.

'I have sent John my own best wishes and the best wishes of the USTA for his future endeavours,' J Howard 'Bumpy' Frazer, the USTA president, said. 'John has been the greatest contributor to the US Davis Cup team in modern times and I know that he will continue to be a strong supporter of our team.'

The Davis Cup final between Australia and Germany, on 3-5 December, will be played on clay at either Dusseldorf or Hanover, it was announced yesterday.