McEnroe favourite after Connors’ exit

Press, 29 June 1983, Page 44

McEnroe favourite after Connors’ exit

NZPA-Reuter London The defeat of the defending champion, Jimmy Connors, has left John McEnroe a solid favourite for the Wimbledon tennis men’s singles title, just as Martina Navratilova is in the women’s after last Saturday’s loss by Chris Evert Lloyd. Connors, the 30-year-old world’s No. 1 and top seed, was cut down yesterday by the ferocious serving of the twelfth seed, Kevin Curren, as he bowed out 3-6, 7-6, 3-6, 6-7, to the big South African. If that shifted the pressure to McEnroe, he was not thinking about it yesterday after his own 7-5, 7-6, 76, triumph over a fellow American, Bill Scanlon. “I am a little surprised Connors was beaten, but it doesn’t affect my task,” McEnroe said. “I thought I had a tougher draw from the start and I have two hard matches before I can start worrying about who else is in the final.” McEnroe lost his Wimbledon title to his compatriot, Connors, in last year’s final after taking it from Bjorn Borg in the title match of 1981 and he and Connors were regarded as the only realistic * contenders this year. But after a series of upsets, that has now changed. There are just four seeds among the last eight of the men’s event, the same as in the women’s, and only one of them, Ivan Lendl, of

Czechoslovakia, is in action today. Lendl, the third seed, continued his fine work on the grass surface he avoided when he skipped Wimbledon last year by beating an Australian, Pat Cash, 6-4, 76, 6-1, and he will take on the American, Roscoe Tanner, the 1979 beaten finalist. Tanner beat his compatriot, Robert van’t Hof, 6-2, 6-3, 6-3, and said he felt he was playing as well as ever. In the quarter-finals to be played tomorrow, McEnroe will face a fellow American, Sandy Mayer, the 31-year-old former United States collegiate champion who yesterday beat the current college champion, Mike Leach, 6-1, 7-6, 6-1. Mayer reached the semifinals 10 years ago after beating Hie Nastase, of Rumania. Curren’s next opponent is the sixteenth seed, Tim Mayotte (U.S.), who got to the quarter-finals in 1981 and the semi-finals last year. Mayotte whipped the Australian outsider, John McCurdy, 6-0, 6-2, 6-4, but will have a far tougher time against Curren, who produced 33 aces against Connors and who has not dropped his service in four matches so far. The women will play all four of their quarter-finals today, Navratilova meeting the unheralded Jennifer Mundel, of South Africa.

The defending champion needed just 39 minutes to dispose of the West German, Claudia Kohde, 6-1, 6-2, yesterday, while Mundel produced the upset of the day among the women by putting out the eighth seed, Hana Mandlikova, of Czechoslovakia, the finalist two years ago, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. The women are also certain of an unseeded semifinalist from the clash between Britain’s 1977 champion, Virginia Wade, of Britain, and another South African, Yvonne Vermaak. Wade eliminated the West German, Eva Pfaff, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, yesterday just two days after Pfaff had beaten Britain’s best hope, Jo Durie. Vermaak upset the ninth seed, Virginia Ruzici of Rumania, 6-3, 6-2. An American, Andrea Jaegar, at No. 3 the highest seed left in the half of the draw vacated by Lloyd, ended the Cinderella run of a Canadian, Carling Bassett, 6- 6-3, and today faces the American eleventh seed, Barbara Potter. Potter beat her compatriot, Lisa Bonder, 6-5, 6-4. The other match could be the best. The American, Kathy Jordan, after her triumph over Lloyd last Saturday, beat the fifteenth seed, Kathy Rinaldi, 6-2, 6-4, yesterday and today faces Billie Jean King. King, aged 39, a six times champion and tenth seed, upset Wendy Turnbull, of Australia, the seventh seed, 7- 6-3.