Show If'W J Damaged pag'eS Lendl Gilbert Advance to DC Final ( 4D The Salt Lake Tribune Avgust 2 1187 Sunday Will Fans Ever Accept Lendl? By John Eisenberg Baltimore Sun — Some people for Ivan Lendl the other day I heard it with my own ears It happened Thursday in a third-rounmatch in the Sovran Bank DC National Tennis Classic Lendl was down a set and a service break to an amateur named David Wheaton He was struggling in the oppressive afternoon heat "Cmon Lendl" a man shouted Several people chimed in That's it But that's a lot I have seen Lendl play to responses on two continents in many stadiums and arenas I have seen him applauded and appreciated But I rarely have seen anyone stand up in a gallery throw their head back and bellow to the sky “Go gittum Ivan'" I wasn't sure it ever happened Lendl is ol course the worlds best mens tennis player and has been since 1985 But he is not the peoples champion This is what many people see when they look at him ( ) They see nothing they see air He is the invisible No 1 The other players do not like or dislike him He does not incite crowds with his behavior W hen he won the U S Open last year Sports Illustrated put him on the cover beneath the headline "The Champion No One Cares About It was not an original line John McEnroe said it !? t m WASHINGTON Tribune Tire Services Ivan Lendl flopped Jimmy Connors 4 6 Saturday night to join upset winner Brad Gilbert in the at Washington finals of the $232000 D C Tennis Gilbert the No 4 seed advanced by winning 10 of the final 11 games to beat second-seede- d Boris Becker 6 0 in an afternoon matdi Top-seede- Swedish Open who Edberg a serve and volley player GiC 6-- 3 3-- Lendl and Gilbert wffl play for the $39440 top prize Sunday night Lendl racked No 1 n the world owns an 11-- 0 lifetime record agranst Gilbert Lendl got the only break of the first set in the fifth game He fired six act including two m a row to close out the set d 6-- 0 two-ffm- fellow-countryma- n Federation Cup: 5-- wort's No 4 player cruised through the in his last three service only one games But he did mot win another game after pulling to Becker the first set allowing within 4-- 3 in the second 6-- 2 top-seed- Connors finally solved Lendl's serve in the fourth game of the second set breaking at 15 bat Lendl cashed in on his third break point of tl ninth game and then drew even at 5 when he fought off a set point to hold serve The loss ended Connors’ bid to capture his first tournament title since October 1984 when he last beat Lendl 4 prefers faster surfaces outclassed defending champion Emilio Sanchez after a rain delay late n the opening set to win the slow clay court The victory avenged a straight-$e- t loss to the Spanish clay court specialist here last year Number 13 proved to be a lucky digit for Nystrom who W Incountryman Mats dander 2 upset lander ranked second in the world behind Ivan Lendl was 12-lifetime going into the match with Nystrom his dose " " friend and doubles partner 6 It was the first time since 1984 that the French Open champion Wilander lost to a on clay t 6-- ch'-ere- championship tennis match in the $202500 an 7-- 6-- d pot set At West Vancouver British Cbrutn-bi- a Pam Shriver and Chris Evert won their singles matches Saturday to propel the defending champion United States past Bulgaria and into the finals of the Fefira-tio- n 2 Cup tennis tournament d West Americans will play The second-seede- d Czechoslovakia 2rL Germany which upset n " ’’ in Sunday’s title match lead m when she defeated Shriver gave the U S a 4 6 Katerina Maleeva 3 winning the loss to beat Manuela MaEvert overcame a second-se- t 1 in the third set 4 after trailing leeva 2 third-seede- top-seed- ed 0 SteSwedish OpeigAt Bastad Sweden second-seede- d fan Edberg and Md 5 Joakim Nystrom breezed past their semifinal opponents m straight sets Saturday to make it 2-- 6 6-- 7-- er 6-- 3-- 6-- a — UnrteO Press irternawei P"o0 Ivan Lendl may be the world’s top tennis player but he hasn’t yet gained the admiration of the 'public mumst country Bjorn Borg also was relentless stern and reclusive not But be was Swedish Czechoslovakian Put it all together and you hav the perfect tennis villain So Lendl 27 travels the world playing the foil to Boris Becker Pat Cash David W heaton or whomever shows up across the net He is a championship baseball team playing all 162 games on the road I’m not sure he deserves such treatment I don't think he is so dull or awful I know a man who used to work as a tennis publicist traveling the world with the players He swears to me that Lendl is the most misunderstood man in sports that he is friendly accommodating and has a fine sense of humor Is Lendl misunderstood’ Certainly he has good qualities He is intelligent and interested in politics and knows what is happening in the world unlike many athletes today He has a beautiful girlfriend who must see something m him And certainly he has thawed the last few years He has loosened up on the court maybe not a lot but some Lendl also has become better with the press Once unbearably dour and uncommunicative he has first I'm not sure this is fair But I think I know why it happens There are reasons 1 His tennis is relentless not exefficient not outraColdly citing geous He wears you down but makes few shots you remember an hour liter As talented as he is he is tennis’ Chinese food 2 He is stern on the court He rarely smiles or shows emotion and has the pallor and glare common to Slavics He looks like a Cossack in tennis clothes 3 He does not make people comfortable He lives behind an electric fence slnd a gaggle of killer dogs which is not how to win fans h And he speaks in staccato so many of his inflections and subtleties are lost on English-speakin- g fans 4 Although he has applied for U S citizenship he is from a Com- foreign-er-Englis- become more insightful and interesting and even funny He has tried and I respect him for it But as hard as he tries he still may never gain the popularity he desires Against Wheaton for instance he rallied to win the second set and take a 1 lead in the third It had been a lively entertaining match But then Lendl threw a game He failed to swing at two of Wheatons serves and casually slapped two others into the net He put a towel around his neck before the last one It was an insult to Wheaton a moment that had no place m a pro match The fans were stunned there was brief booing Even though Lendl served out the match in the next game the moment was mindful of the Lendl of several years ago who virtually quit in several big matches when it was apparent he would lose Tennis stars often go through image makeovers as they grow older Jimmy Connors has gone from villam to hero (for reasons I as yet do not understand) McEnroe may do the same Martina Navratilova fas become more accepted Can Lendl who is more pleasant than he appears7 5-- n Louganis King of the Platform Again BARTLESVILLE Okla(UPI) -Greg Lougams avenged fest Aprils loss to Matt Scoggin Saturday nailing his final dve to capture the IOmeter platforan competlm at the U S Outdoor giving Championships In an earner event unheralded Mary Ellen Clark who barely qualified for the finals of the platform wean the event to capture a berth on the Pan American team Lougams and Scoggm by virtue of Saturday's finish and half of their preliminary totals earned berths on the Pan American diving team Lougams also will be on the Pan Am team in the three-metspringboard which he won Friday er Through nine of the 10 dives maintained a slim lead of less than eight points over Scoggin Scoggin of Austin Texas nailed a difficult dive on his last attempt that meant Lougams would have to score at least 66 points to win on a reverse 31 tuck Lou-gan- The title “was Lougarns' second m two days aid his 43rd national title in the past 1Q years Lougams of Boca Raton finished with 657 12 points to C2841 for Scoggin who had defeated the double Olympic gold medalist in the at the U S indoor in April Fi “This was a good competition I had to rise to the occasion”' Lougams said “When I saw MaU get- ting 9s on his dives I thought tktsh 1 se have to get 9s’ It put the pressure® me I was thinking that I needed 9s)n my last dive but they told meJafer that 6 5s would have been enough is Lougams hit his most difficult dive of the competition earning 9s and 9 5s from the judges to score 84 points — In the women's division whose best finish was fifth in form in last years outdoors virtue of a failed dive by Mich3£ V Mitchell on her seventh attempt Mitchell who was the defdufliB champion in the event and Olympic silver medalist was by 42 points when she attemptSTtjfr back 3l twist hdig ATOM MONEY SAVER COUPON BRING THIS AD & YOUR CAR AND RECEIVE OUR 2995 ATOM SPECIAL SAFE-GUAR- Pan Gasket Clean Screen Road Test Adjust modulator or Throttle Pressure Change Fluid 263-284- 561-929- 4 8 6530 So 9th East h y'j 620 W 90th So COUPON a Pljy a round or two on a 18 hole Championship course Golf packages are now available at Nevada newest rustic resort The Red Lion Inn and Casino in tlko 2 Nights I " a-- 1 Course $5300 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