Lendl’s shock loss

Press, 14 June 1984, Page 8

Lendl’s shock loss

NZPA-Reuter London The Czechoslovak, Ivan Lendl, crashed out of the London Grass Court Grand Prix tennis tournament in the biggest upset of the year yesterday when he was beaten, 7-5, 6-3, by a little-known American, Lief Shiras, in the first round. The defeat came within 48 hours of Lendl winning his first major tennis title when he took the French Open in Paris and his elevation to number one, ahead of the American, John McEnroe, on the AtariATP computer rankings.

Two other seeded players in Lendl’s hal of the draw, the Frenchmen Yannick Noah and Henri Leconte, failed to survive the first round.

Noah, the French Open champion last year, was forced to retire with a recurrence of a thigh strain at 1-1 in the third set against the American. Robert Van’t Hof, with the score standing at a set all. Leconte was beaten, 6-4, 1-6, 11-9, by another American, Lloyd Bourne. The defending champion, Jimmy Connors, of the United States, was also in trouble and dropped a set for the first time in two years as he struggled to overcome the South African, Bernie Mitton, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3. By contrast, McEnroe, the beaten finalist in Paris, had few problems as he cruised to a 7-6, 6-2, victory over his fellow-American, Martin Davis.