Saturday, June 16, 2012

NorCal legend MacKay dies at 76

   Barry MacKay, a Northern California tennis legend, died Friday in San Francisco after a long illness. He was 76.
   MacKay left an indelible mark as a player, tournament director, promoter and commentator. Nicknamed "The Bear," he was among the friendliest and best-liked members of the tennis community.
   Renowned coach and commentator Brad Gilbert won the San Francisco title in 1989, when MacKay was the tournament director. 
   "Just heard the sad news," Brad Gilbert, a Bay Area native, said on atpworldtour.com. "Barry MacKay, one of the greats and without question one of the real good guys in tennis, passed away."
   A native of Dayton, Ohio, MacKay won the 1957 NCAA title while playing for Michigan. He competed on the U.S. Davis Cup team from 1956 through 1960, reached the Wimbledon semifinals in 1959 and earned the top seeding in the 1960 French Championships.
   MacKay was ranked No. 1 in the United States in 1960 and that year received the Bob Hope Award as the Amateur Athlete of the Year. He turned pro in 1961 and played on Jack Kramer's tour for three years.
   After his playing career, MacKay served as the tournament director of the Pacific Coast Championships (now the SAP Open) as it moved from Berkeley to Daly City to San Jose. He also promoted two Davis Cup finals in the United States.
   The SAP Open will be held at HP Pavilion, the home of the NHL's San Jose Sharks, one last time next February. Unable to draw many top players in recent years, it will be replaced on the calendar by Rio de Janeiro.
   MacKay was a popular tennis commentator on television for decades until his death. Most recently, he called matches for Tennis Channel and Fox Sports Network. He was well-known for his catchphrase "And there it is" when match point was converted.
   ATP World Tour -- Sam Querrey, a San Francisco native, topped Ivan Dodig of Croatia 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in a quarterfinal between unseeded players in the Aegon Championships on grass at Queen's Club in London.
   Querrey, 24, is scheduled to play five matches for the Sacramento Capitals during the World TeamTennis season next month. He reached his first semifinal on the ATP World Tour since repeating as the Los Angeles champion in 2010. The 6-foot-6 right-hander underwent surgery to remove bone spurs from his right elbow last June and missed three months.
   Querrey will face another Croat, sixth-seeded Marin Cilic, in the semis. Also 6-foot-6, Cilic beat Querrey in five sets in the second round at Wimbledon in 2009 in their only previous meeting.
   Also Friday, second-seeded Bob and Mike Bryan of Wesley Chapel, Fla., won two matches to reach the doubles semifinals.
   Men's Futures -- Both the top seed and last week's Sacramento champion lost in the quarterfinals of the $15,000 Chico Futures at the Chico Racquet Club & Resort.
   No. 1 Tennys Sandgren of Gallatin, Tenn., fell to fifth-seeded Fritz Wolmarans of South Africa 3-6, 7-6 (5), 6-3, and No. 6 Devin Britton of Brandon, Miss., was eliminated by No. 3 Michael McClune of Irvine 6-2, 6-3. McClune, a Sacramento quarterfinalust, has not lost more than three games in a set in three Chico matches.
   In today's semifinals at 10 a.m., McClune will face Wolmarans, and fourth-seeded Kento Takeuchi of Japan will meet unseeded Phillip Simmonds of Reston, Va. Simmonds won the Sacramento doubles title with Vahid Mirzadeh of Wellington, Fla. 
WEEKEND TV SCHEDULE
(All matches on Tennis Channel; all times PDT)
   Today -- Halle (men), semifinals, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. (delay); Queen's Club (men), semifinals, 2-6 p.m. (delay); Birmingham (women), semifinals, 6-10 p.m. (delay).
   Sunday -- Bad Gastein (women), final, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. (delay); Queen's Club (men), final, 1-3 p.m. (delay), 7-9 p.m. (repeat); Birmingham (women), final, 3-5 p.m. (delay); Halle (men), final, 5-7 p.m. (delay).
CALENDAR  
   Today -- NorCal 18 Junior Sectional Championships, Sacramento State, boys and girls singles quarterfinals at 8 a.m., singles semifinals at 11:30 a.m., girls doubles quarterfinals at 2:30 p.m., boys doubles quarterfinals at 3 p.m., www.norcal.usta.com.
   Today -- $15,000 Chico Futures, Chico Racquet Club & Resort, 1629 Manzanita Ave., Chico, singles semifinals at 10 a.m., www.chicoracquetclub.com.
   Sunday -- NorCal 18 Junior Sectional Championships, Sacramento State, boys and girls singles finals at 9:30 a.m., girls doubles final at 2 p.m., boys doubles final at 4:30 p.m., www.norcal.usta.com.
   Sunday -- $15,000 Chico Futures, Chico Racquet Club & Resort, 1629 Manzanita Ave., Chico, singles and doubles finals, times TBA, www.chicoracquetclub.com.
   JUNE 25-JULY 8 -- WIMBLEDON, www.wimbledon.com.
   July 7-15 -- WTA, Bank of the West Classic, Stanford, www.bankofthewestclassic.com.
   July 9 -- World TeamTennis, Sacramento Capitals' season opener at Boston, 4 p.m., www.saccaps.com.
   July 12 -- World TeamTennis, Capitals' home opener (with Mardy Fish) vs. Kansas City, Sunrise Marketplace Stadium, Sunrise Mall in Citrus Heights, 7:35 p.m., www.saccaps.com.

1 comment:

  1. I remember Barry Mckay he played Ken Rosewall when the Jack Kramer Pros toured NSW in 1961 it was at night he came out to talk to us fellows before going on to play, we were all about 15 or 16 and we all looking for US satilite that was to travel over us one of spotted it and Barry 'COSH DARN JUST LOOK AT THAT, I will never forget him saying that. TW AUST

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