Tennis match slated

Press, 13 June 1984, Page 8

Tennis match slated

PA Wellington The controversial exhibition match between Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe, played in Auckland in February, was strongly criticised in the annual report of the Lawn Tennis Association. The executive president, lan Wells, said: “The match had the hallmark of being conceived of greed at the last

minute, with players concerned having a few hours to spare en route to other engagements and seeing the opportunity to make a substantial amount of quick money.” “It also indicated the difficulty of matches which do not involve New Zealand plavers, where at least there is local pride at stake and the opportunity for the New Zealand player concerned to force his opponent to play well to win.” Mr Wells praised the organ-

isation of the earlier series between Bjorn Borg and Chris Lewis. “The tennis throughout was of a high standard,” he said. “The promotion was highly professional and tennis benefitted considerably from the exposure it received." In spite of Mr Wells’ criticism, the Lendl-McEnroe match contributed significantly to the association’s coffers.

Sanctions for the match, and from the Borg-Lewis series, amounted to $4OOO. New Zealand made a $31,125 profit from the Davis Cup tie against Paraguay in Christchurch in February, more than off-setting the $17,462 loss incurred in playing Sweden last July in Eastbourne. Having lost to Paraguay, New Zealand must now beat Ecuador in Ecuador in September to retain its Davis Cup status.