Stomach bug blamed lor Evernden’s loss

Press, 28 July 1987, Page 40

Stomach bug blamed lor Evernden’s loss

By

TIM DONOGHUE,

of NZPA Bangkok A stomach bug may have prevented Kelly Evernden from completing a 5-0 New Zealand victory in the Asian zone Davis Cup semi-final tennis match against Thailand, according to the non-playing captain, Jeff Simpson.

New Zealand won the tie, 4-1. Simpson said Evernden had eaten something which upset him on Saturday evening which in part explained his 6-0, 6-2 reverse singles loss to Thailand’s No. 2 player, Wolapon Thongkamchu, on Sunday. “Wolapon played well. Kelly had a stomach bug,” Simpson said.

While the outcome was purely academic, Wolapon, aged 19, did play well to give Thailand its consolation victory. When Evernden went down New Zealand was in an unas- - sailable, 4-0, winning position.

in the day, the

Aucklander, Bruce Derlin, had beaten Panumkom Patchenil 5-7, 6-3, 6-3.

In spite of Evernden’s loss, New Zealand tennis is still well poised to regain its world group Davis Cup tennis status. The final day of the tie, in spite of the fact Evemden was suffering stom-. ach bug problems, belonged to the positive power hitter Wolapon.

• In London the Davis Cup holders, Australia, and last year’s runnersup, Sweden, held course for a repeat final showdown in December as they sewed up their world group quarter-finals in perfunctory fashion on Sunday.

The Australians must first face India, who beat Israel in New Delhi on Saturday, but inspired by the new Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash, and favoured by the Sydney venue for the October semi-final, few can doubt their chances of defending the title. Sweden, the Cup winners in 1984 and 1985,

went forward to a semifinal against either Paraguay or Spain with a 4-1 triumph over France in Frejus, near Nice. • In Hartford, Connecticut, Boris Becker defied excruciating tension and a gallant revival from Tim Mayotte to secure West Germany’s 3-2 victory over the United States and Davis Cup world group survival on Sunday. In the pressure-cooker atmosphere of the Hartford Civic Centre, Becker beat Mayotte, 6-2, 6-3, 5-7, 4-6, 6-2, in the final match of the three-day relegation playoff to ensure West Germany remains in the competition’s 16nation top flight But the result relegated the United States to zonal competition next year. •In Prague Czechoslovakia’s Miloslav Mecir, ranked fifth in the world, sealed a 5-0 win over Argentina in their Davis Cup World Group relegation tie on Sunday with a 9-7, 6-2 victory over the thirteenth-ranked, Martin Jaite.