Baseline ball-belter may finally retire

Press, 1 June 1989, Page 56

Baseline ball-belter may finally retire

NZPA-AP Paris Guillermo Vilas, the stocky Argentine who helped pioneer baseline topspin tennis, said yesterday his first-round defeat at the French Open “may have been my last match because I can’t go on making excuses.” At 36, the man who won the French Open 12 years ago and spawned a generation of baseline ballbelters, was himself overpowered 6-1, 6-3, 6-4 by Claudio Pistolesi, of Italy, a player 15 years his junior.

“This is perhaps my last time,” Vilas said. “It’s certainly my last time at the French Open and if you ask me now, I’d say I won’t play any more matches at all.

“But I’m going away to think about it and will probably decide for certain in about a week. At the moment, I haven’t entered for any more tournaments.”

Vilas, who also pioneered the tennis

headband — now worn by scores of players including the 1987 Wimbledon champion, Pat Cash — said he can not go on trying his best and getting nowhere. “You feel you are good but it’s too difficult when you are just not good enough,” he said. “You have no more explanations, no more excuses.” Vilas burst upon world tennis two decades ago as a long-haired muscular baseliner with a love of poetry almost as passionate as his love of punishing groundstrokes. Some first-round results yesterday.— Men’s singles: Todd Witsken (U.S.) beat Udo Riglewski (West Germany) 6-2,’ 6-1, 6-4; 16-Guillermo PerezRoldan (Argentina) beat Sergio Casal (Spain) 6-1, 6-2, 6-0; 11-Alberto Mancini (Argentina) beat Simon Youl (Australia) 7-5, 6-2, 6-3; Martin Jaite (Argentina) beat Marcelo Filippini (Uruguay) 6-3, 6-4, 6-2; Horacio de la Pena (Argentina) beat Richard Fromberg (Australia) 6-4, 6-4,

6-2; Goran Ivanisevic (Yugoslavia) beat Richey Reneberg (U.S.) 0-6, 6-2, 6-1, 6-3; 1-Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia) beat Patrick Kuehnen (West Germany) 7-6, (7-4), 6-3, 6-1; 5Andre Agassi (U.S.) beat Johan Carlsson (Sweden) 6-3, 6-4, 6-1; Jonas Svensson (Sweden) beat Nicklas Kulti (Sweden) 7-6, (7-4), 7-5, 6-3; Andrei Chesnokov (Soviet Union) beat Pablo Arraya (Peru) 6-4, 7-5, 7-6, (7-4); 2Boris Becker (West Germany) beat Jim Pugh (U.S.) 6-4. 6-2. 6-3. Women’s singles:

Jo-Anne Faull (Australia) beat Catherine Suire (France) 6-1, 6-2; 8-Conchita Martinez (Spain) beat Beth Herr (U.S.) 6-3, 6-2; Silke Meier (West Germany) beat Iwona Kuczynska (Poland) 67 (0-7), 6-4, 6-4; 7-Arantxa Sanchez (Spain) beat Regina Rajchrtova (Czechoslovakia) 6-2, 6-1; Bettina Fulco (Argentina) beat Petra Ritter (Austria) 7-5, 6-7 (3-7), 8-6; 16-Susan Sloane (U.S.) beat Carrie Cunningham (U.S.) 60, 6-2; Gretchen Magers (U.S.) beat Maider Laval (France) 6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Andrea yieira (Brazil) beat 14-Hana Mandlikova (Austria) 6-7, (47), 6-1, 6-4.