A Dark Day for McEnroe and Connors : Both Lose in Semifinals as Wilander, Lendl Halt U.S. Bid in French Open

The conditions were awful. The wind whipped the flags atop Stade Roland Garros all day. The sky alternated between gray and black, occasionally spitting a cold rain.

And for John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, it was yet another bleak day in Paris.

Each lost Friday in the semifinals of the French Open in straight sets. Connors left shaking his head in frustration because he was so thoroughly whipped by Ivan Lendl, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

McEnroe left perhaps even more unhappy. He let eight break points slip away in the second set, blew a 5-1 lead in the third set while missing two set-point chances and lost to Mats Wilander, 6-1, 7-5, 7-5.

So, for a 30th straight year, the men’s French title will not be won by a U.S. player since Tony Trabert in 1955. Lendl and Wilander will play for the title Sunday.

Friday, in less than five hours, Connors and McEnroe were given a thorough lesson in the art of clay-court tennis by two men who found the wind a slight bother. The cold, the slow clay, the wet footing, posed no problems.

Connors probably could not have beaten Lendl under any circumstances.

Not once did Connors break serve. Not once did he even reach break point. He reached deuce only twice. In all, he won 17 points during Lendl’s 12 service games.

“My game is more suited for clay than his is,” said the defending champion. “I know better what to do on it than he does.”

While Lendl was gracious, Connors could not bring himself to give credit where it was due. “He didn’t do anything out there,” Connors said. “He just played a lot of balls back. He did nothing.”

While there was little Connors could do in the face of Lendl’s onslaught, McEnroe had countless opportunities.

He played horribly the first set, perhaps due in part to arriving only 20 minutes before going on court, thinking Lendl-Connors would last more than two hours.

Then McEnroe began working his way into the match. Beginning at 2-2 in the second set, he had Wilander in trouble in every game he served. He had two break points in that game and made errors on both. At 3-all, he had another break point and lobbed just long. At 4-all he had four break points and missed four backhands. He had another break point at 5-5, but Wilander ran down a volley and hit a forehand winner down the line.

Eight break points and McEnroe had to serve at 5-6 to get into a tiebreaker. He failed. On Wilander’s first break opportunity of the set, McEnroe popped a forehand into the net and the set was gone.

Wilander has been in the French final three times in the four years he has played here, winning in 1982 at age 17. In 1983, he beat McEnroe in the quarterfinals, winning the last 11 games of the match.

With all his problems, McEnroe looked ready to make a match of it in the third set.

He broke serve in the third game with a backhand volley past the sliding Wilander after attacking the net off a good backhand service return. The chilled crowd --cheered, hoping to see McEnroe climb back.

That seemed likely when McEnroe, after holding for 3-1, broke Wilander again, then saved three break points to lead the set, 5-1. Wilander was ready to concede the set.

“I was thinking I wanted to just hold my serve and make him serve to win the set so I could start out serving the fourth set,” he said. “I didn’t think until 5-4 that I had a chance to win. By then, though, I was very confident.”

McEnroe gave him the confidence by playing foolishly while serving for the set at 5-2.

At deuce, McEnroe played a weak volley that set up Wilander’s winner. At break point, Wilander drove a forehand past a lunging McEnroe for 5-3. Even so, McEnroe had two set points in the next game. Each time, Wilander came up with big serves and held on for 5-4.

By now, McEnroe was frustrated. Serving again for the set, he quickly dug himself a 0-40 hole with three errors, two of them on volleys. After saving one break point, he clumsily pushed an easy overhead way out and it was 5-5.

By this time, even the expressionless Wilander was pumped up. After Wilander held for 6-5, McEnroe looked ready at least to reach a tiebreaker when he served an ace for 40-30.

But Wilander twisted like a pretzel to hit a backhand volley for deuce. McEnroe netted a forehand volley and it was match point. Showing some grit, he came in behind a forehand and punched a solid volley to stay alive.

Three more times, McEnroe had game point to reach the tiebreaker. Each time, Wilander made an unbeatable shot. Finally, on the fourth deuce, McEnroe could only wave at Wilander’s superb forehand cross court.

Match point two. McEnroe got in a rare first serve, but Wilander’s return was again at his shoe tops. McEnroe’s return bounced high in front of Wilander. He wound up for one last forehand down the line.