When Bill Macatee was about to start his career as a play-by-play man, Dick Enberg invited him to Southern California for a three-day private seminar.
Macatee eagerly took the broadcasting legend up on the offer and 30 years later he is replacing Enberg as CBS’ top tennis play-by-play man at the U.S. Open, which begins Monday in Flushing.
“I called Dick when CBS made the announcement just to thank him,” Macatee said of Enberg, whose reign ended because of his commitment to the San Diego Padres.
“We’ve been friends for a long time, going back to the ’80s. … And when a guy does something like that [the private seminar] he’s a special person, and Dick Enberg is one of the great broadcasters of all time in a lot of different sports, and they are big shoes to fill.”
The changing of the play-by-play guard comes at an interesting time for the sport. Roger Federer is back on top of men’s tennis after winning at Wimbledon and will go for his fifth U.S. Open title and first since 2008. The top seed’s nemesis, Rafael Nadal, will not stand in his way. He is out with a knee injury and No. 2 Novak Djokovic has fallen off his pace from his historic 2011. Instead, Andy Murray, seeded third, could serve as Federer’s toughest challenge. The Brit avenged a loss in the Wimbledon final on the same hallowed grounds at the Olympics where he took home gold.
“Can he build on that? Does he believe he can win a grand slam?” Macatee said. “I believe if he breaks through it will come at the U.S. Open, more so than Wimbledon. There’s a lot of tough things for him to deal with at Wimbledon. Novak, after one of the great years in tennis last year, has sort of leveled off this year.
“There are a lot of demands to stay at the top. Athletes will tell you getting there is tough, but it’s not as tough as staying there. If you look at guys like Roger, who has had success for years and years, that’s amazing. You have to adjust to all the demands and responsibilities at that level and still be able to play great tennis.”
There are not as many questions in the women’s draw. After romping at Wimbledon and in the Olympics, Serena Williams, despite being the fourth seed, is the clear favorite.
“Serena is playing her best and she’s at a different level than anyone in the game, anyone else who has ever played on the women’s side,” Macatee said. “It’s going to be interesting to see what happens. There’s nothing like the U.S. Open.”
But it will be different without Enberg roaming the grounds and calling the biggest matches inside Arthur Ashe Stadium. Different for Macatee, who will have more responsibility alongside John McEnroe and Mary Carillo. And he’ll also have to figure out with whom to car pool home.
“[Enberg and I would] ride back every night from the U.S. Open and we’d talk about what happened,” he said. “Being in the secondary role there, I’d listen to him all day long. He did a great job for decades and still could do a great job if he wanted to. … I enjoyed my conversation with him, but I just wanted to tell him how much I admired and how much I appreciated how much he taught me.”