PERTH — On October 3, 1982, John McEnroe sealed a 5-0 victory for the United States over Australia in the Davis Cup semi-finals at the Perth Entertainment Centre, closing the tie with a 6-4, 6-3 win over John Alexander. The result sent the Americans into the final after a week defined as much by a frightening trans-Pacific journey as by tennis.
McEnroe and doubles partner Peter Fleming endured a plane scare en route from California after refuelling in Honolulu. Their aircraft aborted its first take-off, then suffered a blown tyre on the actual take-off that forced a return to Honolulu two hours into the flight. The crew warned passengers to prepare for a crash landing before the plane landed safely. The pair then waited 10 hours for another flight, sleeping on the airport floor, and landed in Perth at 9:30 a.m. on Wednesday, with McEnroe heading straight to practice ahead of Friday's opener.
Despite the disruption, McEnroe beat Peter McNamara 6-4, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 on Friday, and Gene Mayer's victory over Alexander gave the United States a 2-0 lead. On Saturday, McEnroe and Fleming avenged their Wimbledon final loss to Peter McNamara and Paul McNamee, winning 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 8-6 to clinch the tie. McEnroe then completed the 5-0 sweep on Sunday against Alexander.
The semi-final came during a packed autumn for McEnroe, who had fallen to Ivan Lendl 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 in the US Open semi-finals, played one-night exhibitions against Guillermo Vilas in Oklahoma, Louisiana and Texas, and won the San Francisco Open over Jimmy Connors 6-1, 6-3 after a charity match at Stanford. Six weeks later in Grenoble, he led the United States past France in the final, beating Yannick Noah 12-10, 1-6, 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 and teaming with Fleming to defeat Noah and Henri Leconte 6-3, 6-4, 9-7.