US OPEN Connors through in pain
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See the article in its original context from September 1989.
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Gomez, 1-10 lifetime against Connors, pushed him to a fifth-set tiebreaker here before losing in 1981. Connors didn't want this match to go any longer than necessary, especially with third-seeded Stefan Edberg looming in the next round after beating Milan Srejber 6-2, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Connors is the oldest player in the Open and is competing for the 20th time while chasing an improbable sixth title. He followed victorious top-seed Ivan Lendl on the stadium court Saturday and looked equally spry and dominant in winning the first set.
But Connors drifted in the second set, dropping the last four games, and exchanged breaks at the start of the third set. After breaking the 6-foot-4 (1.93-meter) Gomez again to go up 2-1, Connors failed to chase down a ball in the fourth game and responded with a vulgar gesture when a fan taunted him and implied that he might be too old.
Connors suddenly seemed to get a spark of life and held to move ahead 3-1. He broke again to take a 4-1 lead, then stayed in control with a solid baseline game punctuated by a few dashes to the net.
In the final game, though, the heat, or age, caught up to him and caused spasms in his right thigh. Connors rubbed his leg before each of the final two points, won them both, and hopped away with a grimace of pain.
Connors became nauseous and his whole lower body, from his toes to his lower abdomen, continued to cramp up as he suffered water deprivation syndrome, a condition characterized by a sudden loss of minerals and electrolytes, said Dr. Irving Glick, the tournament physician.
Four trainers and three doctors worked on Connors, massaging him, helping him stretch his muscles and giving him intravenous solutions until the cramping ended about 2 1-2 hours after the match.
Connors may be sore for a day or two, but should be ready to play on Monday, Glick said.
Lendl, seeking his fourth U.S. Open title, had an easier time reaching the round of 16 as he won 6-1, 6-2, 6-3 against hard-hitting but erratic 19-year-old Jim Courier.
Lendl said he was pleased with his performance, which amounted to target practice from the baseline as he drilled deep forehands and backhands against the impatient Courier.
Courier is one the American teens at the Open who have shown so much promise, though his game is less polished than Andre Agassi's and Michael Chang's. Courier let himself be bothered by calls several times and seemed frustrated by his inability to take over the match at the net.
"He hits harder with the other players because they let him in," Lendl said. "I was hitting deep and I didn't let him in."
Lendl, 29, said he doesn't feel old, but he's impressed by the depth of talent and development of the young players like Chang, the seventh seed, who won his third-round match against Pieter Aldrich 6-0, 7-6, 6-4.
"When I was 17, I was playing junior tournaments and dreaming that one day I would break into the top 100," Lendl said. "These kids at 16 or 17 are winning the French Open and Wimbledon. It is not even possible to compare my game when I was 16 to their games now. The game is progressing and is becoming younger."
The best of the young women, top-seeded 20-year-old Steffi Graf, breezed past Terry Phelps 6-1, 6-1. In three matches so far, Graf has won every set and lost a total of only eight games. Gabriela Sabatini, the 19-year-old third seed, reached the round of 16 with a 6-2, 6-0 victory from page 16
over Leila Meskhi.
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the 17-year-old sixth seed, beat Sandra Wasserman 6-1, 2-6, 6-4, and Helena Sukova, the eighth seed, beat Anne Minter 1-6, 6-2, 6-1.
In the conclusion of a well-played and emotion-charged matched suspended by rain Friday night, Yannick Noah beat Amos Mansdorf 3-6, 3-6, 7-6, 7-5, 6-2.
The two didn't shake hands right away after the match. Mansdorf complained that Noah's girlfriend was bothering him during play by cheering his mistakes. Noah said Mansdorf insulted his girlfriend.
After a brief argument, the two players shook hands and walked off.
