Dibbs loses to Barazzutti

Press, 10 June 1978, Page 56

Dibbs loses to Barazzutti

NZPA-Reuter Pans The all-conquering Bjorn Borg, of Sweden, and the crafty Italian, Corrado Barazzutti, yesterday qualified to meet each other in the semi-finals of the French open tennis championships. Borg, at his most ruthless, dispatched Raul Ramirez, of Mexico, 6-3, 6-3, 6-0, without effort while Barazzutti silenced the big guns of the American, Eddie Dibbs, 6-1, 7-6, 6-1. Borg, who has dropped only 26 games in advancing to the semi-finals, snuffed out Ramirez as early as the fifth game, when a disputed line call cracked the Mexican’s concentration for good. The Borg result was no surprise — he has played in Paris like a machine programmed to win. But Dibbs’s defeat was unexpected. The American has one of the best clay-court games in tennis and has ground down his challengers remorselessly until yesterday. Barazzutti beat the stocky American by breaking his rhythm with spin shots just over the net and sudden net interceptions. The second seed, Guillermo Vilas, of Argentina, and the American Dick Stockton, seeded tenth, will meet in the other semi-final. Across the English Channel Jimmy Connors, the 1974 Wimbledon champion, has had practice facilities withdrawn by London’s Queen’s Club, the headquarters of

British tennis. He disclosed this snub after his quarter-final win in the Kent grass-court cham--1 ionships at Beckenham yesterday, but shrugged it off saying: “That’s O.K. by me. I’m not too bothered.” Queen’s appears to have retaliated after Connors refused to play in their £60,000 grand prix event from June 19 to 24, the week before Wimbledon. Connors wanted to go straight to Queen’s last night after being held to 6-2, 9-8 in his quarter-final by the 21-year-old South African, Oave Schender, but was refused.

“It is no skin off my nose,” said Connors. “There are two or three places I can practice anyway, including Wimbledon, but I prefer Queen’s Club because it is handy and there are more good players there. “I was thinking of playing in their doubles but now I shan’t bother.”

Stan Smith, another former Wimbledon champion and Connor’s big rival for the £lOOO first prize at Beckenham, also got a tough work-out in his quarter-final. He beat the Australian, Peter McNamara, 6-4, 2-6, 8-6.

The Australian champion, Evonne Cawley, building up for another crack at Wimbledon later this month, swept into the semi-finals with a solid 6-1, 6-2. win over England’s Jackie Fayter in the women’s singles.