Tuesday, September 13, 1988/The Battalion/Page 9
Sports
A big event like the Open
hould’ve ended better
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Sports viewpoint
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I Tennis finals at Grand
Slam events are usually dra
matic and the culmination of
two weeks of fighting
through tough competiton.
■ The U.S. Open men’s fi-
p|al was a meeting between
lie No. 1 seed — Ivan Lendl
I- and Mats Wilander, who
had been breathing down
Lendl’s neck for the top spot
for the past year.
I They are the top two play
ers in the world.
I The final was to be a fight
letween the best of the best.
I It was — but that doesn’t
■lean it was an exciting match with nothing but
Breathtaking shots.
■ In fact, the exalted men’s final at this year’s Open
®as an anticlimax to what had happened in the com
petition’s past two weeks of play.
■ Granted, the final did have its high points.
■ Wilander became the first Swede to win the U.S.
ff)pen — yes, Bjorn Borg failed to win this trophy.
I He took over Lendl’s top ranking in the world,
and the match lasted a record time of just under five
hours. Lendl was also halted at three consecutive
IJ.S. championships — one shy of Bill Tilden’s re-
lord of four.
I These were fantastic accomplishments, but they
do not a thrilling match make.
I Thanks to these feats there was at least something
interesting to say about the final match.
I The sheer length and monotony of the match was
part of its downfall. It reminded me of a soap opera
Ifhat I hadn’t seen in three months but in which noth
ing new had happened to miss. It was an endless dis
play of the same shots.
I I must apologize and say that I’m not trying to
Ike anything away from the enormous skills of ei
ther player. Lendl and Wilander are very talented,
lut in a match together they are a ticket to day
-dreaming or yawns.
■ Apart from their skill, neither one has that certain
something that grips the unswerving attention of the
spectators.
■ Let’s face it: Tennis has become a sport of
showmanship. Just being a competent player is no
longer sufficient. A player must be a spectacle as
well. That helps to prevent the match from coming
out like a soggy towel as did this year’s final.
B In the early rounds and up until the semifinal
liatches, the Open final showed potential of being
quite intriguing.
Seeds dropped out like flies, and unknown play
ers came out of the woodwork to dispatch the big
names. All seemed to be going well.
The Australian contingent showed up, and one of
them — Darren Cahill — even defeated an injured
Boris Becker.
This year was the first time so many Aussies had
survived the early rounds since the early 1970s, and
Pat Cash didn’t even make the trip!
And finally, the American men are showing po
tential.
The youthful Michael Chang and Andre Agassi
have broken through to give the United States some
hope. Now Jimmy Connors doesn’t have to carry the
weight of America’s hopes on his no-longer-spring-
chicken shoulders.
The one bad thing about the American men at the
Open was that Chang and Agassi had to play each
other in the fourth round. It’s pretty bad when one
of our few guys has to eliminate another one early
on.
Agassi moved past Chang and then faced Connors
in the quarterfinals. Was there to be no respite?
Agassi at the price of Connors?
Very depressing.
Connors and Agassi have showmanship.
Agassi was victorious and moved on to iron-faced
Lendl in the semis. It was sad to see Jimbo go, but we
all probably realized that Agassi’s young legs were a
better match for Lendl.
Now the excitement. Could Agassi make it past
Lendl?
The match was great even though Agassi failed to
bring Lendl down. The young American is the hope
of American tennis. He is a spectacle and a crowd-
pleaser.
He was not very pleasing to Lendl, who frequently
whined to the umpire about Agassi’s grunting dur
ing points.
I would have given anything for some Agassi
grunting in the championship match.
Instead it was to be the stony-faced Wilander and
Lendl bombarding each other from the baseline. Wi
lander did come to the net occasionally and served
wonderfully, but it was not gripping tennis. Lendl
did not seem on top of his game.
The match stumbled through five sets of quiet
play interrupted only by crowd abuse or the occa
sional clenched fists after a winner.
fhis wasn’t enough to stick in my memory.
When I think of the 1988 U.S. Open it won’t be of
the championship match. I’ll probably be wondering
what it would have been like to see another Borg and
John McEnroe meeting.
Now that would have been a thrilling match.
Graf, Wilander make history
NEW YORK (AP) — It was a
grand U.S. Open.
Steffi Graf won the first Grand
Slam in 18 years. Then Mats Wi
lander became the first man in 14
years to win three Grand Slam
events in one year.
Ivan Lendl could have made his
tory, too. But Wilander stopped
Lendl’s bid for a record fourth
straight U.S. Open title and took
over his No. 1 ranking in the longest
final in Open history.
In 1987, their final lasted 4 hours,
47 minutes. This year, it went seven
minutes longer. If they play again
next year, fans should be advised to
bring sleeping bags.
Some may have nodded off dur
ing Sunday’s final, which stretched
from day to night and featured
ping-pongish rallies that lasted up to
52 strokes. Those awake at the end
saw Wilander seize the top spot in
men’s tennis when Lendl sent a serv
ice return into the net.
“It’s the best victory I’ve ever
had,” he said. “It’s even better than
my first Paris title.”
Wilander was referring to the
1982 French Open championship he
won when he was 17. It was the first
trophy in his Grand Slam collection,
which now includes one U.S., three
French and three Australian titles.
That’s one more Grand Slam title
than Lendl has, the same number
John McEnroe has, and one fewer
than Jimmy Connors has.
So why hasn’t Wilander gotten the
respect or public recognition that
those players have?
Part of it is due to his low-key per
sonality, which some people mistake
for a lack of ambition. Another fac
tor is that he’s Swedish, and when
Americans think of Swedish tennis
they still think of Bjorn Borg.
And, finally, there is his coun-
terpunching style on the court,
which is effective but often boring.
Unlike W’ilander, Graf had no
need to alter her strategy.
The West German, 19, breezed to
the final against Gabriela Sabatini
without losing a set.
Graf split the first two sets against
her fellow teen, but, as often hap
pens in their matches, Sabatini tired
down the stretch.
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