McEnroe ousted in stunning upset

Press, 17 January 1986, Page 26

McEnroe ousted in stunning upset

NZPA-Reuter New York Unheralded Brad Gilbert, of the United States, scored one of the biggest upsets in the history of the Masters tennis championships yesterday when he stunned the defending champion, John McEnroe, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, in the opening round. The 24-year-old Californian’s victory earned him a quarter-final place against Anders Jarryd, of Sweden, who had advanced earlier in the day by beating his compatriot, Joakim Nystrom, 0-6, 6-4. Tfie top seed, Ivan Lendl, of Czechoslovakia, and Tim

Mayotte (U.S.), also advanced and will meet in the quarter-final round. Lendl crushed his countryman, Tomas Smid, 6-1, 6-0, and Mayotte scored, a mild upset when he ousted Yannick Noah, of France, 6-4, 6-4. McEnroe’s stunning loss thwarted his bid for a third successive Masters title and a place in the final for the fourth year in succession. The New Yorker, seeded second, had beaten the eighteenth-ranked Gilbert in all seven of their previous matches while losing only

one of 16 sets; and despite his vastly improved play last year the 24-year-old Gilbert was given virtually no chance to beat the world’s second-ranked player. Gilbert, ‘however, played the match of his life, blunt-* ing McEnroe’s wicked twist service with glittering service return winners and pasrna McEnroe often with dating groundstroke winners. Gilbert was ecstatic about his win: “It was the biggest victory of my life,” he said.