Easier opponent for Lendl

Press, 7 December 1987, Page 48

Easier opponent for Lendl

NZPA-Reuter New York Ivan Lendl, pushed to three sets by Boris Becker yesterday, should have an easier time of it in the semi-finals against the American, Brad Gilbert, at the SUSSOO,OOO ($NZ785,000) Masters tennis tournament The other semi-final in the eight-man event is expected to be closer with the Swedes, Stefan Edberg and Mats Wilander, squaring off for the second consecutive day. Edberg, seeded second, beat his compatriot 6-2, 76, (7-5), on Saturday. But the third-seeded Wilander still holds a 7-5 edge in their career meetings. In the last match on Saturday, the seventhseeded Australian, Pat Cash, beat the sixth-seed, Miloslav Mecir, of Czechoslovakia, 7-5, 6-4. Becker, the two-time Wimbledon champion who has had a disappointing year, was eliminated, 6-4, 6-7, (3-7), 6-3, by Lendl and finished with a 1-2 record in the round-robin play. Both. Lendl and Edberg 1

finished the round-robin play with three wins and no losses. The eighth-seeded Gilbert, at 2-1, gained the semi-finals when Becker, seeded fith, failed to beat Lendl. Wilander also finished at 2-1. Mecir and the American, Jimmy Connors, seeded fourth, were both 0-3 in round-robin action, while Cash finished at 1-2. Lendl, who won the United States and French Opens this year and was runner-up to Cash at Wimbledon, pretends no modesty in comparing his talents to those of Gilbert, whom he says appears to have a mental block when they play each other. “I think his second serve is not all that deep and hard, so he cannot come in on it,” Lendl said. “He pushes the ball. I hit the bait” Results.— Round-robin format 2-Stefan Edberg (Sweden) beat 3-Mats Wilander (Sweden) 6-2, 7-6, (7-5). 1-Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia) beat 5-Boris Becker (West Germany) 6-4, 6-7, (37). 6-3.