Czechs, Italians in final

Press, 23 September 1980, Page 30

Czechs, Italians in final

NZPA-Reuter London The strong right arm and tremendous poise of the young Czechoslovak, Ivan Lendl, and the experience of the perennial Italian star, Adriano Panatta, carriec •their countries into the Davis Cup international team tennis final yesterday. Both players were in on all three victories recorded by their teams as Czechoslovakia upset Argentina 3-2, in Buenos Aires, and Italy put out Australia by the same score in Rome. But Lendl’s performance was by far the outstanding one of the two ties. He overcame the might of Argentina’s Guillermo Vilas

and Jose Luis Clerc before their home fans, beating them both in the singles and joining with Tomas Smid for a decisive doubles victory. Lendl, just 20, capped his remarkable performance by downing Clerc, 6-1, 7-5, 6-8 6-2. On Saturday he beat •Vilas 7-5, 8-6, 9-7, in a match which had begun on Friday and was suspended by darkness, then he and Smid crushed Vilas and Clerc, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. It was a bitter defeat for Argentina, whose players seemed unnerved by the pressure of playing at home •despite their upset victory earlier this year over the

United States, which wor the cup in 1978 and 1979. Lendl, conversely, lookec totally unruffled throughout and he and his team now have the advantage of playing the final at home. The dates have still to be set, but it is expected to be held in Prague next month. Czechoslovakia, has reached the finals only once before — in 1975 — when it was beaten by Sweden, 3-2. in Stockholm. The Italians will have more experience going for them in the final. They won the cup in 1976 and were the beaten finalists in 1977 and again last year.

Panatta was part of all those teams, and the 30-year-old Roman showed he is still a formidable competitor, though, unlike Lendl, he had the benefit of the fans on his side. Yesterday he defeated Peter McNamara, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4. That came after his 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, 6-4 triumph over Paul McNamee in the opening match on Friday. But the Italians really seized control of the tie yesterday when Panatta and his long-time doubles partner, Paolo Bertolucci, defeated McNamara and McNamee, the reigning Wimbledon champions, in a 2-6, 9-7, 9-7, 2-6, 6-4 marathon.