Evert’s tennis hopes end

Press, 26 September 1988, Page 22

Evert’s tennis hopes end

NZPA-Reuter Seoul Chris Evert’s hopes of an Olympic tennis medal ended yesterday on noisy court one, the graveyard of the seeds. Evert, the second seed who had been expected to meet the world No. 1, Steffi Graf, in the women’s final next Saturday, was beaten 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 by the Italian Raffaella Reggi who simply outran the veteran American. The Italian No. 1, ranked No. 24 in the world, kept up constant pressure on Evert, returning seemingly impossible shots and coaxing unforced errors from her opponent. Evert, who had never lost a set to Reggi in four

previous meetings, fought back from 4-1 down in the second set but failed to convert four break points when she trailed 5-4 and gave away the set with a misplaced forehand.

During the final set Reggi was given a warning for taking courtside tips from the coach, Adriano Panatta, who has been training her to put more slice on her service — a move which gave Evert a lot of problems. Evert, who beat Reggi’s team-mate, Anna Maria Cecchini, in the second round, seemed disturbed by the noise on court one where the No. 5 seed, Helena Sukova, of Czechoslovakia, and men’s No. 4, Henri Leconte, of France, also made early exits.

Thumping disco music from a nearby hall mixed with babies crying in the heat and spectators chattering loudly during play. Evert said: “I really didn’t come here thinking I could win a gold medal. I had a virus at the U.S. Open and didn’t play for a week. “I had a very tough draw but I didn’t think I’d lose against Raffaella. She played some great tennis.” Evert, who said she had not yet decided whether to stay for the rest of the Olympics, added that she would not use the noise as an excuse for her thirdround defeat. In the quarter-finals Reggi will play the No. 7

seed, Manuela Maleeva, of Bulgaria, who needed just 55 minutes to beat the Swede Caterina Lindqvist 6-1 6-0. With Evert gone, Pam Shriver kept American medal hopes alive by beating Katerina Maleeva, the younger sister of Manuela, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. ® New Zealand’s Kelly Evernden and Bruce Berlin were eliminated from the Olympic tennis tournament yesterday after a five-set doubles match with the Australians Darren Cahill and John Fitzgerald. The New Zealanders took two sets off Cahill and Fitzgerald, including a first set tie-breaker. Cahill and Fitzgerald won the match 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 62, 3-6, 6-1.