Monday, September 12, 1988/The Battalion/Page 15
Wilander defeats Lendl at Open
■lEW YORK (AP) — Mats Wi-
Sahper ended Ivan Lendl’s three-
reign as U.S. Open champion
; pd took over his No. 1 ranking with
i dramatic five-set victory Sunday in
hellongest final in Open history,
^■he 24-year-old Swede, who won
:he 1988 Australian and French
Hens, became the first man since
[iminy Connors in 1974 to win three
[Stand Slam events in one year by
Uptmg Lendl 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.
|f ; §|e match lasted 4 hours and 54
minutes.
^wilander also halted Lendl’s bid
fora record fourth straight Open ti-
tie end prevented him from break
ing Connors’ mark for the longest
H^Htch at the top of the computer
rankings.
a ^Wilander, the first Swede to win
^ the U.S. Open, will replace Lendl as
v\\c the No. 1 player when the new rank-
are released Monday. Lendl
^O' 1 needed to remain at the top until
# 9 3 to break Connors’ record of
159 straight weeks at No. 1.
\\U' tBr lst y ear ’ Lendl and Wilander
^wed 4:47 in another Open final
that featured long and grueling
|1 BKline rallies.
Wilander had lost six straight
matches to Lendl, five of their eight
Grand Slam meetings, and 13 of
their 19 matches overall.
But Sunday he forgot the past and
concentrated on the present against
Lendl, who lives just down the road
from him in Greenwich, Conn.
It was the first five-set Open final
since John McEnroe’s victory over
Bjorn Borg in their 1980 classic.
Wilander was also the champion
of the French and Australian Opens
this year.
The 62-minute first set was typical
of the match, featuring long baseline
rallies that sometimes lasted more
than 20 strokes.
Lendl saved a break point in the
eighth game when Wilander netted
an easy forehand volley and held
serve to make it 4-4.
But Wilander broke in the 10th
game to win the set when Lendl
made two straight backhand errors.
Lendl had saved a set point earlier in
the game when Wilander hit a back
hand inches wide.
Wilander broke Lendl in the sec
ond game of the second set on a
lunging stab volley and moved out to
a 4-1 lead. But Lendl regained his
form and won the next five games to
even the match.
After squandering six break
points in the second set, Lendl fi
nally broke Wilander in the seventh
game with a forehand winner to pull
within 4-3.
Wilander appeared to be thrown
off stride at 30-all when chair um
pire Jay Snyder gave him a warning
for stalling on his serve. Lendl won
the next two points with a forehand
volley and a forehand winner.
Wilander took a 30-15 lead in his
next service game, but Lendl hit
backhand on the next point that
nicked the net and skipped past Wi
lander for a winner.
After Wilander made two fore
hand errors to lose the game, Lendl
served out the 58-minute set at love.
There was only one break in the
46-minute third set, and it belonged
to Wilander. He broke Lendl at 15 in
the second game on a crisp forehand
volley.
Wilander, not known as a power
ful server, lost only four points on
his serve the rest of the set.
One of the key points in the set
was a muffed overhead by Lendl at
in the fifth game. He could have
taken a 30-15 lead with a successful
smash and moved into position to
break Wilander back. But Lendl hit
the ball straight down on his side of
the court, then missed two back
hands to drop the game and fall be
hind 4-1.
The players held serve in the
fourth set until Wilander broke to
take a 4-3 lead. Lendl led the game
30-0, but Wilander came back to win
it as Lendl made three unforced er
rors.
Lendl broke back with a perfect
backhand lob in the next game and
broke again in the final game with a
forehand volley that landed on the
line.
At set point, someone in the
stands threw two balls on the court
that bounced just in front of Wi
lander as he was about to toss up a
second serve. Because of the distrac
tion, Snyder gave Wilander two
serves. After returning a second
serve, Lendl rushed the net and hi)
the winning volley.
,Graf Grand Slam probable next year
NEW YORK (AP) — 11 took 18 years
for tennis to get another Grand Slam
winner. The next wait could be
much shorter.
!||Minutes after Steffi Graf com
pleted the Slam with a victory over
Gabriela Sabatini at the U.S. Open
Saturday, some people were predict
ing the 19-year-old West German
might sweep the four major tourna
ments again next year.
“It’s a tough assignment, but she’s
such a good player and she’s so
strong and determined that it’s defi
nitely possible,” said GBS commen
tator Tony Trabert, who won five
Grand Slam tournament singles ti
tles in the 1950s.
Hi think her biggest potential
threat is Wimbledon. Grass is her
least-favorite surface because she
takes such a big swing and because
of the bad footing.”
Billie Jean King, who won 12
Grand Slam tournament singles ti
tles, also thinks Graf can become the
first player to win consecutive Grand
Slams.
“She has the determination to be a
great champion, the potential to be
one of the best ever,” King said.
“Steffi beat all the top players in
all four tournaments. And she looks
like she might be able to do it some
more.”
King said Grafs feat was more
difficult than the first five Slams:
Don Budge in 1938, Maureen Con
nolly in 1953, Rod Laver in 1962
and 1969, and Margaret Court in
1970.
“It’s more impressive now because
all the best players go to all the
Grand Slams,” King said.
“When I was playing, you would
skip the Australian a lot and not
even go to the French all the time.
The clay courts were so different for
us, and Australia meant going away
for three months.”
Graf only lost two sets while
sweeping the big four tournaments
— the first set to Martina Navrati
lova in the Wimbledon final and the
second set to Sabatini at the U.S.
Open.
In fact, Navratilova and Sabatini
are the only players who have beaten
Graf in the past two years.
Grafs record over that period is
135-4. The only losses were to Nav
ratilova in the 1987 Wimbledon and
U.S. Open finals, and to Sabatini at
two Florida tournaments this spring.
But King said she saw Grafs po
tential greatness when she was 15.
“You could see it back in 1984 at
Wimbledon when she was hitting the
ball all over the stands, looking like
Bambi, and everybody was saying,
‘Ugh! She’ll never be any good.
“But I said, ‘Look at her feet.
Look at how she moves. She has the
feet of a champion.”
Late Pinkett TD puts Houston past L.A.
HHOUSTON (AP) — Running back Allen Pin
kett, starting for injured Mike Rozier, scored his
third touchdown of the game on a 6-yard run
With 31 seconds to play as the Houston Oilers
rallied for a 38-35 NFL victory over the Los An
geles Raiders Sunday.
^■After the Raiders had taken a 35-31 lead on a
1-yard touchdown run by Marcus Allen with
2:59 left, Houston’s>)Cody Carlson, who threw
two touchdowns, directed the Oilers downfield
in a 12-play, 79-yard drive.
9Pinkett capped the drive, taking a pitch from
Carlson and diving into the end zone. Pinkett
also scored on 3- and 1-yard runs in the first
half.
^■The Oilers comeback helped nullify a 21-
poim second quarter for the Raiders when Steve
Beuerlein completed three second-quarter
touchdown pases of 42 yards to Willie Gault, 4
yards to Tim Brown and 9 yards to Steve Smith.
Carlson, starting his first NFL game, com
pleted touchdown passes of 16 yards to Drew
Hill and 12 yards to Ernest Givins.
The Raiders capitalized on two costly turn
overs by Carlson in the second quarter en route
to their 21-point surge. Carlson fumbled at the
Oiler 5-yard line and defensive end Hqwie Long
returned an interception 73 yards to set up a
pair of scores.
Houston is now 2-0 and the Raiders dropped
to 1-1.
Carlson, starting for Warren Moon who is out
for six weeks with a shoulder injury, made his
first NFL start an impressive one, completing 21
of 34 passes for 276 yards.
Carlson completed 12 of 15 passes in the first
hall and then rallied the Oilers in the fourth pe
riod after completing only one pass in the third
quarter.
Beuerlein completed 10 of 24 passes for 129
yards and directed the drive that put the Raiders
ahead for the final time with 2:59 left. Beuerlein
completed a 19-yard pass to Gault and then
threw an incomplete pass to Gault in the end
zone. But Patrick Allen was called for pass ipter-
ference giving the Raiders a first down on the
Oilers’ 1-yard line.
Pinkett gained 70 yards on 22 carries as a re
placement as Rozier missed the game with shoul
der and ankle injuries.
Givins caught nine passes for 108 yards for
the Oilers.
The Oilers overcame 15 penalties for 184
yards.
Baseball Wrap-up
Deshaies, Biggio lead Astros over Giants 4-1
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) —
Pitcher Jim Deshaies and rookie
catcher Craig Biggio staged turn
arounds Sunday, helping the
Houston Astros to a 4-1 victory
over the San Francisco Chants.
Deshaies, 1-4 in his previous
six starts, threw a four-hitter,
pitched his third complete game
and yielded only one hit over the
final five innings.
Biggio, a .202 hitter with only
two RBI in his first 36 major
league games, hit a solo homer
and a run-scoring double, along
with a single and a stolen base.
It was a 2-1 game until the
ninth, when Buddy Bell’s 200th
major league homer and Biggio’s
double gave Deshaies a three-run
cushion.
“I breathed a little easier after
we scored those two runs,” said
Deshaies, 10-12. “I didn’t want to
go into the bottom of the ninth
with a one-run lead and Will
Clark leading off.”
Biggio, 22, hadn’t been playing
much lately because of Alan Ash
by’s return to action. Yet he made
the most of his opportunity.
“I’m just happy to have the
chance to come off the bench and
contribute,” Biggio said. “I
haven’t been playing much, so I
just wanted to go out, play hard,
and keep a high intensity level.”
The victory kept the second-
place Astros within five games of
National League West-leading
Los Angeles.
“I’d like to be where the Astros
are,” said Manager Roger Craig,
whose fading Giants lost for the
14th time in 18 games.
Billy Hatcher hit his fifth
homer in the second inning off
Atlee Hammaker, 7-8. Biggio led
off the third wih a 400-foot
homer to center, his second. Bell
connected for his sixth homer in
the ninth.
Sierra, pitchers lead Rangers past Angels
ARLINGTON (AP) —Charlie
Hough and Ed Vande Berg com
bined on a seven-hitter and Ru
ben Sierra drove in four runs as
the Texas Rangers beat the Cali
fornia Angels 8-3 Sunday.
The teams had played 5 hours
and 30 minutes the night before
with Texas winning 3-2 in 17 in
nings.
Hough, 13-15, allowed four
hits before leaving with two out in
the sixth when he aggravated a
muscle pull in his left hip. Vande
Berg, the winning pitcher Satur
day, earned his second save.
Sierra hit a sacrifice fly in the
fifth and a three-run homer, his
21st, in the eighth.
The Rangers scored two runs
in the first against Terry Clark, 6-
4. Jerry Browne walked, Cecil
Espy singled and Pete O’Brien
singled to load the bases with
none out.
One run scored when Clark
threw a wild pitch and Mike Stan
ley drove in another with a sacri
fice fly.
Texas made it 4-0 in the fifth
on Sierra’s sacrifice fly and Stan
ley’s RBI single. California scored
twice in the sixth on Johhny Ray’s
RBI single and Brian Downing’s
sacrifice fly.
Espy had an RBI single in the
eighth. Bob Boone had an RBI
single for the Angels in the ninth.
Dodgers win on 9th-inning homer off Franco
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jeff
Hamilton hit a two-run homer in
the ninth inning off Cincinnati
relief ace John F'ranco, capping a
three-run rally helped by two er
rors and the Los Angeles Dodg
ers beat the Reds 5-3 to maintain
a five-game lead in the National
League West.
Tom Browning held Los An
geles to four hits for eight innings
before Franco, 5-6, entered to
start the ninth.
Kirk Gibson singled with one
out for his third hit. John Shelby
followed with a hard grounder
for an infield hit that third base-
man Chris Sabo smothered. But
Sabo threw wildly past first base-
man Dave Concepcion for an er
ror and Gibson scored when Con
cepcion’s threw wildly to the
plate.
Hamilton then hit his fifth
home run.
McReynolds keys Mets 3-0 win over Expos
MONTREAL (AP) — Bob
Ojeda pitched a five-hitter and
Kevin McReynolds drove in all
three runs with a homer and sin
gle as the New York Mets beat the
Montreal Expos 3-0 Sunday.
Ojeda pitched the Mets’ 22nd
shutout this season and second
straight over Montreal. New York
swept the three-game series and
held the Expos scoreless in the
last 22% innings.
Ojeda, 10-13, did not walk a
batter and struck out eight in his
fifth complete game, all of them
shutouts.
Dennis Martinez, 15-12, lost
for the fifth time in six decisions.
Montreal has scored only three
runs in those five losses.
!>f> AM/PM Clinics
1 CLINICS
Our New College Station location « *
offers
Birth Control Counseling
Women’s Services
Female doctors on duty
Student 10% discount with ID 693-0202
4
>><
(f'
Snakes...
Tropical fish
Pet Supplies
and
-Rabbits & Guinea Pigs
-Reptiles
1703 Texas BrOWn’S
Culpepper Plaza RSH . N . p ETS
693-6547
In the Heart of
Brazos County
/ 36,000 students
/ 9,700 faculty
/ Free
The Battalion
216 Reed McDonald
(409) 845-2611
A101
Freshman Orientation
Nothing could have prepared me
for the first few moments with my
roommate. ‘Anique”—nothing more,
just ‘Anique’—was her name. Change
the “A” tq a “U” and you’ve got a
description.
When they asked what type of
roommate I wanted, I didn’t know that
I needed to be more specific than non-
smoker. I could swear I saw a picture
of Anique on a postcard I got from
London. Within five minutes, I found
out that she was an Art History stu
dent, into the Psychedelic Furs, and
totally, totally against the domesti
cation of animals.
I was just about ready to put in
for a room transfer when she
reached into her leather
backpack, pulled out a
P - can of Suisse Mocha and
. offered me a cup. Okay, I
| decided I’d keep an open mind.
As we sipped our cups, I
found out that Anique and I share
the same fondness for Cary Grant
movies, the same disdain for wine
coolers, and the same ex-boyfriend.
That gave us plenty to talk about.
General Foods® International Coffees.
Share the feeling.