Some things never change, and that’s a good thing.

One of the things that has remained constant over the years is John McEnroe, the “brat” who burst on to the international tennis scene in the late 70′s with oodles of talent and oodles of on-court attitude.

More than 30 years later, McEnroe is still at it, and both his talent and attitude were on display for the local fans at the Cancer Treatment Centers of America Tennis Championships in Surprise on Thursday night.

McEnroe beat Wayne Ferreira in his first match of this year’s round-robin tournament 6-4, 7-6. He also earned a code violation warning for heaving his racket, got into several disagreements with lines people, verbally sparred with fans, and had another code violation issued against him, along with a visit from the court supervisor.

But more prominent than McEnroe’s trademark behavior was the fact that at 51 (the oldest player in this year’s field), he can still flat out play tennis. He still covers a lot of ground, has a great touch near the net and can dial up a big serve every now and again.

McEnroe broke Ferreira, whom he beat for the first time in their careers on Thursday, in the first set to go up 3-1, and then used three spectacular shots taken off of his shoetops to hold serve and go up 4-1. That’s when things got interesting. After Ferreira broke McEnroe’s serve to pull to within a game at 3-4, he threw his racket about forty feet into a courtside billboard, immediately earning a warning. Ferreira then held on his next service game, and McEnroe argued game point. But the veteran lefty finished the first set strong, holding his own serve and then breaking Ferreira’s for the 2nd time of the set to win 6-4.

In the 2nd game of the 2nd set, McEnroe again argued a call and pointed out the spot where he saw the ball hit. The chair umpire wouldn’t budge, so McEnroe offered up some vintage “Johnny Mac” dialogue for the umpire, who issued another code violation, and called for the court supervisor.

When asked what he said to the court supervisor, McEnroe replied “I didn’t really tell him anything, because I didn’t call him. It was the umpire that called him.”

Many in the crowd appeared surprised that McEnroe is still fiery after all these years. After the match, McEnroe was asked if he plays better when he’s angry. “I don’t play (angry) as well as I used to,” he said. “It’s certainly expected, and so it’s not that hard to oblige. I always get asked ‘was that real, or was that part of the show?’, and I’m not even sure I know myself. It’s sort of both–it is like I get mad, but it’s part of the show, so it sort of goes hand in hand.”

McEnroe overcame his frustration with the calls he perceived were going against him, and played some great tennis in the second set, rallying from a 3-1 deficit to force a tiebreaker. In the tiebreak, McEnroe uncorked a couple of aces, and pulled out a winner on a gorgeous backhand volley that put him up 4-2. He went on to win the tiebreaker 7-2.

So did McEnroe’s antics distract his opponent? “No, the times that I’ve played him, he’s done that quite a few times,” Ferreira said with a smile.

McEnroe returns to the court in Surprise on Friday night, when he takes on Jeff Tarango, while Ferreira will play Jim Courier.

In the first match of the night, former French Open champ Michael Chang played well and breezed past fellow American Jimmy Arias 6-0, 6-2. It was Chang’s first-ever match at the CTCA Tennis Championships in Surprise, and he was pleased with his effort. “I felt pretty good today,” he said. “The conditions were perfect and there was not a whole lot to complain about tonight. By the end of the first set, I had my forehand going pretty good.”

Arias, who is playing in the event for the third time in as many years, saw his record fall to 0-5 in Surprise, but he remains a crowd favorite, often bantering back and forth and giving an occasional high five to the courtside faithful.

Friday’s schedule at the CTCA Tennis Championships includes an afternoon session, which begins at 2:00 p.m. and features Arias taking on Mark Philippoussis and Chang playing Aaron Krickstein. The night session begins at 7:00 p.m. on Friday and will feature the Ferreira vs. Courier and Tarango vs. McEnroe matches.

For more information on the event that continues through Sunday, click here.