By Ron Harris
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ John McEnroe completed his daunting ATP Tour comeback in familiar winning form, teaming up with Sweden's Jonas Bjorkman on Sunday to beat Americans Paul Goldstein and Jim Thomas 7-6 (2), 4-6, 10-7 in the finals of the SAP Open.
The match ended with a vintage piercing McEnroe backhand volley up the middle between Goldstein and Thomas. He was light on his feet all match long, smashing overheads, slicing serves and poaching for volleys.
When his volley ended the match, the 47-year-old McEnroe's face lit up and he embraced Bjorkman. A standing ovation from the crowd rained down on them and the crafty lefty, considered by many to be the finest doubles player in tour history, basked in victory yet again.
``I'm surprised that it went to the final tiebreaker, but the right team won,'' McEnroe said.
Earlier in the day, 18-year-old Andy Murray used a mix of deft drops shots and backhand winners to upset third-seeded Lleyton Hewitt 2-6, 6-1, 7-6 (3) in singles play for his first ATP Tour title.
McEnroe has stayed in decent playing shape and his hands remain sharp as he plays often on the senior pro tennis circuit.
``I felt like I had it in me, but I didn't know quite what was going to happen,'' said McEnroe, the oldest player to win an ATP title _ singles or doubles _ in the last 30 years.
It was McEnroe's 78th career doubles victory, and first ATP final since winning a doubles tournament in Paris with his brother Patrick in 1992.
Under new ATP Tour doubles rules, a match knotted at one set apiece is decided by a tiebreaker, with the first team to 10 points by a margin of two winning.
McEnroe jokingly said he would take a few months off before deciding if his comeback would continue any further. He took the wildcard from the tournament director to put a spotlight on the game of doubles, which is undergoing changes that shorten the matches and threaten to further marginalize its importance.
McEnroe reached the top ranking in singles and doubles during his heyday. He has now teamed with 14 different players to win doubles titles, including an impressive 57 with longtime partner Peter Fleming.
On match point in the third-set tiebreaker, Murray sliced a few shots to set up a crisp backhand crosscourt winner that Hewitt could only watch.
``Obviously, it's the biggest moment in my life in tennis so far,'' Murray said of the win, which earned him $52,000 US and moved him into the top 50 in the tour rankings for the first time.
Murray, who knocked off top-seeded Andy Roddick 7-5, 7-5 in the semifinals, briefly raised his hands over his head after winning the match. He shook hands with Hewitt at the net and then climbed into the stands for a long hug and kiss from his girlfriend.
Murray said his girlfriend's presence during the tournament relaxed him.
``Hopefully she'll come to a few more tournaments,'' Murray said, drawing chuckles from the crowd.
Hewitt said his serve, including a crucial double fault in the third-set tiebreaker, let him down.
``I just wasn't getting any cheap points out there, but to his credit he was hardly missing too many returns,'' said Hewitt, who had 10 aces and 11 double faults on his serve.
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