Lendl eases way into last 16

Press, 29 June 1987, Page 36

Lendl eases way into last 16

By

ROBERT PHILIP

NZPA-Reuter London With the intimidating presence of Boris Becker no longer around to menace him, Ivan Lendl eased his way into the last 16 of the men’s singles at the Wimbledon tennis championships yesterday.

The world No. 1 dropped a set for the third successive round but was never seriously threatened by an American qualifier, Richey Reneberg, ranked 241 places beneath him, winning 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6. After Saturday’s dramas, when Becker led the departure of eight men’s and women’s seeds, an air of normality returned to Wimbledon yesterday, though a Russian qualifier, Alexander Volkov, and a Swiss, Jakob Hlasek, struck two mighty blows for the lower orders.

Volkov, aged 20, who came through the tough qualifying event and is ranked 503rd by the computer, is waging a personal crusade against the United States at these championships. His 7-6, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 defeat of the No. 12 seed, Brad Gilbert, was his fifth successive win against American opposition and he will now play the Czechoslovak, Miloslav Mecir, seeded fifth, or Anders Jarryd, of Sweden, for a place in the quarterfinals. Hlasek removed the 13th-seeded Joakim Nystrom in four sets but will now face a more formidable Swede in the fourth seed, Stefan Edberg, in the next round. Edberg, who has not dropped a set in three matches, beat the American, Matt Anger, 76, 6-2, 6-2. The only minor surprise in the women’s singles — the dress of the Briton, Annabel Croft, apart — was the 6-0, 6-1 demolition of the thirteenthseeded Barbara Potter, by her fellow American, Mary Joe Fernandez, aged 15. Croft, the last British survivor in the women’s singles, wore a halterneck dress which revealed a bare back for her second-round match against the Australian, Liz Smylie. Smylie turned up for work on the No. 2 court in a sensible skirt and shirt and a business-like 6-3, 6-

1 victory took her into the last 32. Otherwise, little of note occurred in the women’s event as Steffi Graf, Gabriela Sabatini and Helena Sukova all reached the fourth round without difficulty. Since losing to Becker in straight sets in last year’s final, Lendl, who retained the French Open championship three weeks ago, has devoted himself to winning his first Wimbledon title.

After beating Reneberg without once dropping serve, he said, “If I could win Wimbledon, I’d happily lose every other match of the year.” In spite of the obvious claims of Pat Cash, who beat his Australian mentor, Paul McNamee, in straight sets, Tim Mayotte, a winner in five rugged sets against an American compatriot, Tim Wilkison, and Lendl, a lot of smart money is riding on Edberg giving first triumph since the days of Bjorn Borg. The second-seeded Graf made it 42 singles wins in a row — the thirty-ninth was her French Open triumph in Paris three weeks ago — when she beat Laura Gildemeister, of Peru, 6-2, 6-1.

Graf said that Becker’s defeat meant West Germans “may be looking to me more to do well here” but said this did not make her more nervous. “When I play I always concentrate only on my tennis.”

Graf now stands one match away from a quar-ter-final clash with Sabatini, the Argentine teenager who won her third round match, 6-3, 6-4 against Isabelle Demongeot, of France. The dashing Australian, Pat Cash, in the same half of the draw from which Becker and Yannick Noah were removed on Saturday, swept into the third round with a second straight-sets victory, 7-5, 6-4, 6-2 over his compatriot, McNamee.

Results on the sixth day of the Wimbledon tennis championships yesterday (prefix number denotes seeding):

WOMEN Singles, second round* M. J. Fernandez (United States) beat 13 B. Potter (United States), 6-0, 61; B. Herr (United States) beat A. White (United States), 6-1, 6-4; A. Moulton (United States) beat J. Wiesner (Austria), 6-4, 6-4; B. Cordwell (New Zealand) beat J. Salmon (Britain), 7-6, 6-0; 8 C. Kohde-Kilsch (West Germany) beat L. Field (Australia), 7-6, 6-0; G. Fernandez (Puerto Rico) beat S. Parkhomenko (Soviet Union), 6-2, 36, 6-4; E. Burgin (United States) beat A. Smith (United States), 6-4, 7-5; E. Smylie (Australia) beat A. Croft (Britain), 6-3, 6-1. Singles, third round: N Zvereva (Soviet Union) beat A. Henricksson (United States), 6-3, 6-3; 15 R. Reggi (Italy) beat C. Tanvier (France), 6-3, 6-4; 4 H. Sukova (Czechoslovakia) beat J. Durie (Britain), 6-1, 6-3; 16 S. Hanika (West Germany) beat I. Kuczynska (Poland), 6-3, 6-4; 6 G. Sabatini (Argentina) beat I. Demongeot (France), 6-3, 6-4; J. Novotna (Czechoslovakia) beat S. Pete (United States), 6-2, 4-6, 6’-4; 2 S. Graf (West Germany) beat L. Gildemeister (Peru), 6-2, 6-1. MEN Singles, second round: C. van Rensburg (South Africa) beat C. Bergstrom (Sweden), 6-3, 6-2, 6-2; M. ' Schapers (Netherlands) beat L. Scott (United States), 7-6, 6-3, 6-2; A. Jarryd (Sweden) beat D. Rostagno (United States), 6-0, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3; 11 P. Cash (Australia) beat P. McNamee (Australia), 7-5, 6-4, 6-2; J. Svensson (Sweden) beat E. Edwards (South Africa) 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, 8-6; 10 T. MayOtte (United States) beat T. Wilkison (United States), 6-3, 4- 6-7, 6-2, 6-4. Singles, third round: J. Hlasek (Switzerland) beat 13 J. Nystrom (Sweden), 5-7, 6-3, 6- 7-6; 4S. Edberg (Sweden) beat M. Anger (United States), 7-6, 6-2, 6-2; 9 H. Leconte (France) beat G. Bloom (Israel), 6-3, 7-6, 7-5; A. Volkov (Soviet Union) beat 12 B. Gilbert (United States), 7- 0-6, 6-3, 6-4; BA. Gomez (Ecuador) beat K. Flach (United States), 6-4, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; 1 I. Lendl (Czechoslovakia) beat R. Reneberg (United States), 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 7-6; J. Kriek (United States) beat S. Davis (United States), 5- 6-4, 6-7, 6-1, 8-6. Kelly Evernden and Belinda Cordwell, of New Zealand, face third round challenges this evening. — Page 21.