‘Super-brat’ out of Wimbledon

Press, 2 July 1979, Page 3

‘Super-brat’ out of Wimbledon

NZPA London Tim Guliikson climaxed a week of Wimbledon upsets when he toppled the number two seed, John McEnroe, in straight sets on Saturday. If anyone was to end Bjorn Borg’s three-year reign as Wimbledon champion, McEnroe was the universal choice, but Guliikson ended all that with a 6-4, 6-2, 6-4 victory.

McEnroe emerged as Wimbledon’s youngest semifinalist in 1977. He lost in the first round last year, but in the last 12 months his power and skill have taken him to the top of the men’s game, while his sometimes petulant behaviour has earned him the title of “super-brat”. Yesterday, however, the 20-year-old New Yorker was strangely subdued. Under difficult conditions his behaviour was admirable but his tennis was below par. McEnroe’s surprise exit means that only four of the men’s seeds are left to participate in the second week: top seed Borg, Jimmy Connors (3), Roscoe Tanner (5) and Guliikson (15). Tim Guliikson is the more prominent of the 27-year-old tennis twins from Ohio, Tim and Tom, who sound more like a circus act.

There is only one way for most people to pick them apart — Tim is right-handed, Tom the left-hander.

McEnroe could have been suffering from double vision, as he had beaten left-handed Tom in the third round. Tim put the family record straight on Saturday, as neither twin had beaten McEnroe in seven previous encounters. A disappointed McEnroe was polite but abrupt when he spoke to reporters after the match.

He said a leg injured shortly before Wimbledon had made him “slightly hesitant, partly in the mind, and partly in the body.” “It took me so long to loosen up in this cold weather. I was really fit at the start, and I was having trouble pushing up on my leg to serve. It was two-and--a-half sets before I felt like I could hit a ball.” How bad was his cold? — “All colds are bad when they’re yours.” What was his strategy? — “I tried to get the ball bacK.” Why did he lose? — “Gullikson played better than I did.”

Was his service weaker than it normally is? — “Either that or they’re doing a hell of a lot better returning it.”

How could he get the crowds to be less hostile towards him? — “Be a great guy.” McEnroe said, “Even on my serve I wasn’t getting to the volleys. I don’t like to

make excuses, but I don’t feel I’ve been 100 per cent the whole tournament. That’s just sour grapes.

“He never let up. He kent bearing down on me. He played a realty smart match.”

Guliikson said: “Looking over the net, he really seemed like he was unsettled, and that he had a lot of things on his mind. “Maybe it’s all the pressure on him. After all, everyone said he’d win Wimbledon and he’s been labelled as a bad guy, which he isn’t.” McEnroe’s defeat left Roscoe Tanner as favourite to reach the final from the bottom half of the draw, although, he must first beat Guliikson in the quarter finals tomorrow.

In the top half of the draw Borg and Connors remain on course for a semi-

final meeting. Borg, the winner here for the last three years, mowed down the American, Brian Teacher, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5 for his twenty-fifth successive Wimbledon singles victory. The Swede’s quarter-final opponent will be the unseeded Dutchman Tom Okker, the man he beat in the semifinals last year. Okker yesterday defeated Gene Mayer of the United States 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Connors, Wimbledon champion in 1974 was the most convincing fourthround winner, putting out Britain’s Mark Cox 6-2, 6-1, 6-1, in a mercilessly onesided encounter. Connors now faces the unseeded American, Bill Scanlon, who beat Australia’s Brad Drewett, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. The fourth quarter-final will be between two unseeded players, Italy’s Adriano Panatta, who beat Sandy Mayer of the United States, 7-6, 6-3, 7-6, and Pat Dupre of the United States, who eliminated his compatriot Bob Lutz, 3-6, 7-5, 4-6, 6-4, 8-6, in a cliffhanger. The quarter-final line up in the women’s singles is Martina Navratilova against Australia’s Dianne Fromholtz, Tracy Austin against Billie-Jean King in an all-American contest, Britain’s Virginia Wade against Evonne Cawley of Australia, and Chris EvertLloyd, the American second seed, against Australia’s Wendy Turnbull. While Navratilova

struggled for her fourthround success yesterday, Lloyd looked sharp and menacing in disposing of her compatriot Laura Dupont 6-2, 6-1. But she was cautious about her title chances.

“1 haven’t had any really tough matches yet and when that happens you can’t really tell whether you are playing well or not.” The heroic attempt by Sydney’s Brad Drewett to become the only qualifier to reach the quarter finals ended out on Court 14 when he went under in four sets to the American Bill Scanlon, 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5. The bland scoreline belied a match of high drama. Drewett nearly brought off one of the great escapologist acts of the championship when he saved five match points in the tie-breaker in the third set, and two more in the fourth. A disputed line call on the seventh point . of the tiebreaker put Scanlon up 6-1, with five match points in hand. Drewett, enraged by a serve which he thought was out (and most of the crowd were on his side), reeled off the next seven points to take the game 8-6. The anger shook him out of his levity, and he began serving with greater penetration early in the fourth set.

Games went with service until the eighth when the American broke to 5-3 with a backhand which hit the baseline after Drewett had decided to leave it. But Drewett broke immediately back to 4-5, and held service to love in the tenth game.

There was another dispute in the eleventh game, and both players stood at the net glaring at each other for several seconds. Then at the most vital time, Drewett’s serve deserted him. He slumped to 15-40 after two poor second serves which the American put away easily.

Drewett saved those two match points and held an advantage point to force another tie-breaker. But he hit a backhand wide, netted an easy volley, and hit a half volley along the ground to end the Australian challenge for the men’s singles title. The women’s singles went according to plan. The top eight seeds are left to con-

lest the quarter finals, which means three Australians are still alive — Evonne Cawley (3), Dianne Fromholtz (6) and Wendy Turnbull (8).

Miss Turnbull’s fourth round win was at the expense of her close friend and former doubles partner Kerry Reid, the ninth seed. They decided this year not to defend their women’s doubles crown at Wimbledon after a disappointing year playing together in America. Miss Turnbull won 6-3, 4-6. 6-4 on Saturday in a match which contained 11 service breaks. Sixt h-r ank e d Miss Fromholtz won two tiebreakers in beating the fifteenth seed Betty Stove of the Netherlands, 7-6, 7-6.

But she has a tough assignment in the next match up against the defending champion Miss Navratilova, and Miss Turnbull plays second seed Mrs Evert-Lloyd, twice a Wimbledon winner. Miss Turnbull has lost nine matches against Mrs Lloyd, the last of them in the final of the French open last month.

“I’ll just have to be as positive as I can,” Miss Turnbull said. “I think I’ll have a better chance on grass. I’ll try to come into the net as much as I can. I stayed back in Paris and that was fatal.”

Australia’s top hope, Mrs Cawley, will play 1977 champion Virginia Wade. Mrs Cawley said on Saturday night her tough match against Kathy Jordan was just what she needed at this stage of the tournament.

4 ‘l had to play <fut every game, 1 had to really go for my shots,” she said.

“That must be good for my game. I needed that match to help get me going. It’s nice to know I’ve still got the fighting spirit.” Mrs Cawley fought back from 1-4 in the second set only to lose the tie-breaker, but then put her game together in the third set to clinch a 7-6, 6-7, 6-1 win. The quarter final line-ups are: Men: Borg v. Tom Okker, Jimmy Connors v. Scanlon, Adriano Panatta v. Pat Dupre, Roscoe Tanner v. Tim Gullikson. Women: Navratilova v. Fromholtz, Tracy Austin v. Billie-Jean King, Wade v. Cawley, Turnbull v. Lloyd.