NEWPORT - John McEnroe defaulted in his opening round-robin match at the $150,000 Hall of Fame Champions Cup on Thursday at the International Tennis Hall of Fame due to audible, unsportsmanlike conduct and abuse of official code violations in his match with fellow American MaliVai Washington. The default marked the first time McEnroe was defaulted from a match on the Outback Champions Series, the international tennis circuit for champion tennis players over the age of 30.

The series of events that lead to McEnroe's dismissal came after McEnroe won the first set 6-3 and with Washington serving at 4-2, ad-in, in the second set in the opening round-robin match for both players. Arguing a line-call, McEnroe was issued a code violation warning for an audible obscenity by chair umpire Ray Brodeur. McEnroe continued his tirade against Brodeur and was issued consecutive abuse of official code violations. According to the Outback Champions Series Code of Conduct, match defaults are a four-step process, with the first violation resulting in a warning. The second violation results in a point penalty, a third violation a game penalty, and a fourth violation a match default. McEnroe's three violations gave Washington the second set 6-2 (the point penalty giving Washington the game for a 5-2 lead and the game penalty giving him the set by a 6-2 margin). As McEnroe continued his tirade, fans at the Newport Casino became vocal and restless and began to yell at McEnroe to continue playing. McEnroe responded to the fans with a visible obscene gesture, which resulted in a fourth code violation from Brodeur and McEnroe's immediate default from the match.

Jon Venison, the Outback Champions Series co-founder and supervisor, was summoned to the court and confirmed the code violations and the default.

McEnroe did not meet with press following the incidents but will continue to compete in the eight-player round-robin format event. He is next scheduled to play Karel Novacek today.

"All players must abide by the same rules," said Venison. "Umpires tend to be intimated by John which generally means they are more lenient with him. He crossed the line today. We are dealing with a group of extremely competitive guys, and John is one of them. He agreed to the first three code violations, but disagreed with the fourth (for an obscene gesture). John said that he did not do it, and the umpire said he 100 percent categorically saw it. We have to go with the umpire's ruling."

Said Washington following the match, "I guess 1992 in New Haven was the last time I played John. Has anything changed? I guess he has one of those explosive personalities, you could say. There are a lot of things I can deal with, disputed line calls, stoppage in play. I have an issue when my opponent starts berating people, fans, and umpires. I said something to the official. As players, we are in control of the match. Officials are in charge of the integrity of the game."

McEnroe's other high-profile default from a match came at the 1990 Australian Open, when he was tossed out of a round-of-16 match with Sweden's Mikael Pernfors due to audible obscenities. Said McEnroe following his default loss to Pernfors in 1990, "I don't really have anyone to blame but myself. This is like a long story that culminates in me getting defaulted in a big tournament. I mean, I guess it was bound to happen. It's too bad. I don't feel good about it, but I can't say that I'm totally surprised."

Said Venison, "For the vast majority of players this is a non-issue. Historically there have been more issues with John's matches than the other guys, but this was over the top. We tell them [the umpires] to set guidelines early in the match so that the players know their boundaries. If you don't, things can get ugly quickly."