Players set for Volvo clash

Press, 4 August 1987, Page 56

Players set for Volvo clash

NZPA-AP Stratton Mountain, Vermont The defending champion, Ivan Lendl, American, John McEnroe, and the Australian, Pat Cash, lead the field of players set to compete in the Volvo International tennis tournament Play begins today in the tournament the first official tournament for McEnroe since the French Open. It will also be the first time Lendl and Cash have been in the same tournament since the Australian upset the

top-ranked Czech at Wimbledon. Sixty-four singles players and 32 doubles teams are scheduled to compete for $NZ560,000 in prize money. None of the top seeds were expected to play in today’s first-round matches. Lendl will meet American, Marc Flur, in firstround play. Cash plays New Zealand’s Kelly Evernden. Cash defeated Lendl in three sets on July 5 to capture the Wimbledon title. The loss was a blow to Lendl, who was trying

to win his first Wimbledon singles final. McEnroe, the 1985 Volvo champ and last year’s most hotly pursued player off the court, will meet compatriot, Jonathan Canter. Last year’s Volvo was McEnroe’s first tournament after a nearly seven-month sabbatical, his marriage to actress Tatum O’Neal and the birth of their son. The McEnroes spent their honeymoon at Stratton last year, attracting reporters and photographers from, around the world.

McEnroe, seeded fourth at the Volvo, played In Davis Cup competition recently but has not participated in an official tournament since his firstround loss at the French Open. The tournament’s No. 2 seed, Jimmy Connors, meets fellow American Gieg Holmes. Gomez of ECua< dor, ranked eleventh in the world, has withdrawn, dfficlals said, while West Germany’s Boris Becker, who lost to Lendl in last year’s final, did not enter this year.