McEnroe and Lendl locked in battle

Press, 2 June 1988, Page 44

McEnroe and Lendl locked in battle

- Paris

NZPA-Reuter Paris ■ • • • For the third successive evening, Ivan Lendl went to sleep yesterday thinking about John McEnroe. Like a midnight feast of snails in garlic, the prospect did not immediately suggest a recipe for a good evening’s rest. Lendl presumably knew what he was doing, which could not be said of his tennis at times when only an outrageous line call at set point in the second tiebreak saw him edge ahead 6-7, 7-6, 4-2 in their fascinatingduel at Roland Garros. - The fourth round 1 meeting was first postponed because of rain. Yesterday bad light stopped play so the match will now be completed, today. ■> Lendl’s dislike of the former Wimbledon champion is scarcely concealed.

McEnroe is the great enigma of tennis. Lendl does not readily understand such species, and the reigning champion of

France and the United States fears that which he does not know. 1. Publicly, Lendl -is openly dismissive of McEnroe, but Peter Fleihing, the American’s longtime doubles partner; close friend and now travelling adviser, thinks the Czechoslovak is hiding his real feelings. . . < “John is the only person Lendl is probably scarfed of in the game today!” > The winner — and!the entire centre court will be openly behind McEnroe — will meet Sweden’s j Jonas ' Svensson in ;the ' quarter-finals. j . The other quarter-finals pit the No. 9 seed, the American Andre .«Agassi, against the equally hardhitting Guillermo’"PerezRoldan, of Argentina; the Soviet No. 1, Andrei Chesnokov, against the Frenchman, Henri Lecontp, and the former title-holder, Mats Wilander, of Sweden, against Emilio Sanchez, of Spain. Chesnokov, the No. 14 seed, defeated Australia’s

Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash, and will be seeking to give the Soviet Union a representative in both singles semi-finals. Natalia Zvereva, the fourth round conqueror of Martina Navratilova, reached the women’s last four with a 6-2, 6-3, win over No. 6 seed, the Czechoslovak, Helena Sukova. L : . ■ Results:— ' <

Women’s singles (quarterfinals): 4 — Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina) bt Helen Kelesi (Canada) 4-6, 6-1, 6-3; Nicole Provis (Australia) bt Arantxa Sanchez (Spain) 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; 13 — Natalia Zvereva (Soviet Union) bt 6 — Helena Sukova (Czechoslovakia), 6-2, 6-3. Men’s singles (fourth round): 14 — Andrei Chesnokov (Soviet Union) bt 4 — Pat Cash (Australia). 2-6, 6-2, ; 6-4, 6-3; 1 — ; Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia) leads. 16 — John McEnroe (U.S.) 6-7, (37), 7-6 (7-3), 4-2, play stopped because of fading light Men’s doubles (quarterfinals): Leonardo Lavalie (Mexico)-Agustin Moreno (Mexico) bt Ken Flach (U-S.)-Robert Seguso (U.S.) 64, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3.