U.S. ‘tennis sweethearts’ make history at Open

Press, 31 August 1989, Page 35

U.S. ‘tennis sweethearts’ make history at Open

NZPA-Reuter New York Jimmy Connors and Chris Evert — America's tennis sweethearts of another decade — both came to centre court at the United States Open yesterday to make history.

Connors and Evert, who split up shortly after winning Wimbledon singles titles 15 years ago, both set records for longevity and extended their Open records for success.

Connors beat Dutchman Tom Nijssen 6-2, 6-1, 6-2 in his 103rd United States Open match to surpass Vic Seixas for the most Open matches ever played. Evert, who is bidding farewell to Grand Slam tennis at this Open, made a good start in her record nineteenth successive Open by beating Bettina Fulco, of Argentina, 6-4, 6-2. The duo brightened an otherwise gloomy day at the concrete stadium complex that lies under the landing path of jumbo jets roaring into nearby LaGuardia Airport.

Rain, which held up the start of second-day play for about an hour and caused scattered delays, finally forced a premature end to the programme. Fourteen matches that had not yet

begun were postponed and seven others had to be suspended, One suspended match involved the world No. 1, Ivan Lendl, who was leading Diego Perez, of Uruguay, 6-1, 7-6 (71), 2-0 on the grandstand court when the rain came. The No. 7 seed, French Open champion Michael Chang, had his match against fellowAmerican Tim Wilkison postponed.

Others joining Connors and Evert in the second round

included the No. 2 seed, Martina Navratilova, and the No. 3 seed, Gabriela Sabatini, on the women’s side. Stefan Edberg, Andre Agassi and Tim Mayotte were among other seeded men to advance.

But on a day when wet weather and dark skies made for heavy going, there were Chrissie and Jimmy — stirring memories of their glory years.

Connors, looking a bit heavy after a two-month hiatus from the tour, made quick work of the 24-year-old Nijssen, who made his first Open appearance as Connors set his record for most Open matches ever.

For Evert it was business as usual, despite the outpouring of affection from fans at Louis Armstrong Stadium who knew they might be seeing the last of a great champion. Selected results.—

Women’s singles: Larisa Savchenko (Soviet Union) beat 9-Pam Shriver (U.S.) 62, 6-3; Wendy White (U.S.), beat 10-Mary Joe Fernandez (U.S.) 6-4, 6-3; 4-Chris Evert (U.S.) beat Bettina Fulco (Argentina) 6-4, 6-2; 16-Hana Mandlikova (Australia) beat Eva Pfaff (West Germany) 61, 4-6, 7-6 (7-0); 2-Martina Navratilova (U.S) beat El

Ilda (Japan) 6-0, 6-2; 3-Ga-briela Sabatini (Argentina) beat Claudia Porwik (West Germany) 6-1, 6-2; 14-Kater-ina Maleeva (Bulgaria) beat Ann DeVries (Belgium) 6-4, 6-1; Gretchen Magers (U.S.) beat Carling Bassett Segusa (Canada) 6-1, 6-2; 8-Helena Sukova (Czechoslovakia) beat Petra Langrova (Czechoslovakia) 6-3, 6-4; Anne Minter (Australia) beat Catherine Tanvier (France) 6-2.

Men’s singles: 6-Andre Agassi (U.S.) beat Robbie Weiss (U.S.) 6-3, 7-6 (7-5), 60; 3-Stefan Edberg (Sweden) beat Javier Frana (Argentina) 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 7-5; Paul Haarhuis (Netherlands) beat Kelly Evernden (New Zealand) 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 7-6 (7-2) 6-4; Danie Visser (South Africa) beat Nicolas Pereira (Venezuela) 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (75), 3-6, 6-4; 9-Tim Mayotte (U.S.) beat Marc Flur (U.S.) 6-1, 6-3, 6-2; 13-Jimmy Connors (U.S.) beat Tom Nijssen (Netherlands) 6-2, 6-1, 6-2; Peter Lundgren (Sweden) beat Craig Campbell (South Africa) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1; 1-Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia) leads Diego Perez (Uruquay) 6-1, 7-6 (7-1), 2-0; 16-Andrei Chesnokov (Soviet Union) leads Magnus Gustafsson (Sweden) 3-6, 6-1, 7-5, 33.