Clash feared at tennis final

Press, 29 May 1978, Page 28

Clash feared at tennis final

NZPA-Reuter Rome Ugly crowd scenes threat-: en to mar the final today! (New Zealand time) of the, Italian open tennis cham-' pionships between home-1 town idol, Adriano Panatta,! and the top seed. Bjorn Borg: (Sweden), as they did in a semi-final. Borg, seeking his second Italian title, will start as the firm favourite but this could mean nothing in front of fans who shattered the nerves of the Spaniard, Jose Higueras, against Panatta on Saturday. Higueras, who had looked set to beat Panatta, stormed off the court and forfeited the match after a second set in which he had beer incessantly baited by a screaming crowd at the Foro Jtalico.

With him went the British umpire, Mr Bertie Bowron, who quit his chair for the first time in his long career saying: “These people must be told to shut up.” The Spaniard, who had won the first set 6-0, and had six set points in the second before losing it, 7-5,1 and withdrawing, undoubtedly brought some crowd

anger on himself by making obscene gestures to spectators and questioning line calls. But Higueras complained with justification afterwards: that it was impossible to! concentrate in the face of insults and beer cans hurled from the terraces. Ever since Panatta beat the defending champion. Vitas Gerulaitis (United | States) on the opening day, i the fans have taunted his opponents to get the Italian winner they want. Borg beat Eddie Dibbs (United States), 6-4, 6-3, 6-0, to reach the final. In the quarter-finals, Dibbs beat John Lloyd (Britain), 6-2, 6-1, Higuera beat John Alexander (Australia), 6-2, 6-4, Panatta beat Victor Aaya (United States), 7-6, 6-4, and Borg beat Harold Solomon (United States), 6-2, 6-1. In the women’s singles final on Saturday, Regina Marsikova (Czechoslovakia) beat Virginia Ruzici (Romania), 7-5, 7-5. Earlier, Marsikova had beaten Janet Newberry (United States), 6-4, 6-2, and Ruzici had beaten Michelle Taylor (Britain), 6-7, 6-3, 6-3, in the semi-finals.