Concentration lapses lead to downfall

Press, 29 September 1988, Page 44

Concentration lapses lead to downfall

NZPA-Reuter Seoul The Wimbledon champion, Stefan Edberg, crashed out of the Olympic tennis tournament yesterday when Czechoslovakia’s Miloslav Mecir beat him 3-6, 6-0, 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the semi-finals. Mecir’s victory was sweet revenge for his Wimbledon semi-final defeat by the Swedish world No. 3, whose repeated lapses of concentration finally proved his undoing in Seoul. In the opening set on the centre court, the No. 1 seed Edberg looked in storming form, clinching set point with a superb forehand volley across the court. But, as in all his Olympic matches, he began to relax once he was ahead and his serving became erratic. The No. 3 seed Mecir — who will face the American Tim Mayotte in

tomorrow’s final — took full advantage, winning the second set to love with a precisely placed service return past Edberg for the final point. Edberg, aged 22, who says he has had concentration problems during the Games, pulled himself together to break Mecir three times in the third and win the last four games in a row to take the set. But his serving went to pieces again in the fourth set which opened with a marathon game going seven times to deuce before Mecir broke the Swede with a backhand pass. Few of Edberg’s first serves were in, and once he sent the ball soaring high into the stands. The , deciding set opened with another battle for control. Mecir, who has beaten Edberg four times in seven previous meetings and twice

before on a hardcourt, failed to take advantage of two breakpoints in the opening game. But Mecir, ranked tenth in the world, kept his head to break the Swede on a disputed line call in the fifth game and with a forehand pass for a 5-2 lead. He served out for the match, winning the final game to love and leaving Edberg with only a bronze medal. The American Brad Gilbert, who rarely threatened his compatriot Mayotte, took the second bronze. Mayotte won 6-4, 6-4, 6-3. Gilbert, the No. 5 seed, fought back from 5-1 down in the opening set to reach 5-4. But he was unable to keep up the pressure against the levelheaded Mayotte who coolly clinched the third set and the match with an ace.