Waccamaw continues dominance

You may have missed it. John McEnroe defeated Pete Sampras.

And, remember, Sampras scored a win over Roger Federer last fall.

Does this make 49-year-old John McEnroe potentially the best tennis player in the world?

Or check this out. Bishop England defeated Pinewood Prep, 9-0. The Bishops then turned around and suffered a 6-1 regular-season loss to Waccamaw.

And the people out at Pinewood Prep thought they had a pretty good tennis team.

As local high school tennis follower Nancy Kennedy e-mails, "I think the Waccamaw team must be born with tennis rackets in hand."

Waccamaw, of course, is quite good. The Warriors probably could beat many small college teams, and maybe even a few NCAA Division I teams.

Coach James Brown's Class AA team from Pawley's Island participated in the high school national championships in Newport Beach, Calif., a couple of months ago, and won three out of four matches. One of the wins was over the defending national champions.

Whereas most high school teams rave about state-ranked players, Brown gives you the Southern/national rundown on his team.

Bishop England would have had a great year if Waccamaw had been playing college tennis rather than in the High School League.

The Bishops, indeed, are a pretty good high school team by normal standards. A 5-1 loss to Waccamaw in the Lower State final won't completely ruin a 13-3 season.

Of course, Waccamaw lived up to its advance billing again Saturday with a 6-0 blitzing of perenial power Christ Church for its second straight Class AA-A state title.

That should make Bishop England fans feel a little better.

Back to this McEnroe thing. Yes, it really happened. He really did defeat Sampras in a match that went to a tiebreaker third set on May 2 in Boston in a Champions Cup event. It was Sampras' first loss ever on the Outback Champions Series.

What does Federer think about all of this? He probably doesn't want to get anywhere close to McEnroe on a tennis court.

If someone told me that John McEnroe was born with a racket in his hand, I'd say, "What brand?"

Region reinforcements

Pinewood Prep defeats Porter-Gaud; Porter-Gaud defeats Pinewood Prep.

That's the way it's been the last few years in SCISA's boys' two-team Region I-AAA.

But reinforcements are on the way.

Beginning next school year, state champion Hilton Head Prep and Hilton Head Christian are joining the Region I wars.

And that's what it will be for the boys — war. State champion Hilton Head Prep doesn't lose any of its six starters in singles, and Pinewood Prep and Porter-Gaud lose only one singles starter each.

Squash invasion

And just when we thought tennis was a safe haven, squash comes to town. Paul Assaiante is the head squash/tennis coach at New England's Trinity College, and he visited Charleston on Thursday to meet with Trinity alumni at the plush Charleston Squash Club off Upper King Street.

While Assaiante has coached the men's tennis team to a 118-49 record for 11 years, he has directed Trinity to 10 consecutive perfect seasons in squash and an unprecedented ninth straight Potter Trophy. That's about as close as you can get to perfection in this country in a sport that isn't on the Olympics agenda.

Reach James Beck at jdbeck@postandcourier.com or (843) 937-5540.