McEnroe’s Difficult Opener : Champion Rallies in the Fifth Set to Win Tiebreaker

John McEnroe, four times a U.S. Open champion and favored to win again in 1985, nearly had his title defense at Flushing Meadow canceled Tuesday faster than you can say Shlomo Glickstein.

Glickstein, who’s positioned on the world computer at No. 137, came within a flinch of erasing the biggest name in the business from the U.S. Open active list before the sun had set on the tournament’s first day.

Glickstein held a two-sets-to-one lead over McEnroe, held a 6-5 advantage in the fifth set and found himself finally tied at 7-7 in a final-set tiebreaker before McEnroe awakened in the nick of time to wring out a 6-1, 6-7, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6 first-round victory.

“It was an amazing struggle,” was the way McEnroe sized it up. “I was in shock. By the time I realized I was in for a tough match, I had to fight my bleep off to win it.

“I’ve never been so happy to win a first-round match,” he said with a sigh.

This was supposed to have been one of those kick-back-and-win-in-three-sets sessions for McEnroe. Mac was back in his hometown, on top of his game after two straight wins over Ivan Lendl and in the process of tuning up for his much-awaited quarterfinal confrontation with Wimbledon winner Boris Becker. After Glickstein, it was to be: One down, three to go.

Instead, it was McEnroe who nearly wound up down--and out of the tournament. Glickstein, whose professional tennis highlight is a quarterfinal berth in the 1981 Australian Open, nearly became the sixth person in U.S. Open history to oust a top-seeded player in the first round.

How close was it? Well, in the fifth set, Glickstein broke McEnroe’s serve in both the sixth and eighth games. Had he been able to hold his own in the seventh, he would have been up, 5-3, and serving for the match.

As it developed, Glickstein and McEnroe were tied after the eighth game of the last set, 4-4, after McEnroe sandwiched in a service break of his own. That eventually brought on a 6-6 deadlock, which brought on the second tiebreaker of the match.

Glickstein, who won the first tiebreaker, dropped quickly behind in this one. He was on his last legs, trailing, 6-3, as McEnroe stepped up to serve at triple-match point.

It was nervous time . . . but this time, it was McEnroe who momentarily succumbed to a case of nerves.

McEnroe served to Glickstein, rushed the net but then dumped his ensuing volley into the net. Glickstein next drove McEnroe deep into the backcourt, and McEnroe, on the run, netted another shot.

Serve to Glickstein. Service winner.

A tied tiebreaker at 6-6.

As the players changed sides after the 12th point, the Stadium Court crowd rose to its feet to applaud the efforts of Glickstein, the little-known player from Israel who refused to crumble.

Glickstein didn’t know how to respond to this. The crowd roared on as he readied another serve. Glickstein lost his concentration, interrupting his toss of the ball. He tried it again, more tentatively, and McEnroe hit a screamer down the line.

Glickstein ran it down but wound up off the court, with no chance to contend with McEnroe’s overhead.

But Glickstein forged yet another tie at 7-7 when McEnroe missed wide with a backhand. Then, finally, with the match approaching the four-hour mark, McEnroe wrested control.

He took an 8-7 lead with a service winner. And, on his fifth match point, McEnroe capitalized, moving Glickstein from sideline to sideline, forcing him to bounce a scrambling forehand into the net.

With that, McEnroe punched his hand into the air to salute an audience than had been largely pro-Glickstein all afternoon. The king wasn’t dead yet.

But, as McEnroe later admitted, the possibility of a premature demise had occurred to him--more than once.

“The thought of losing definitely crossed my mind,” McEnroe said. “When I’m down, two sets to one, I’m sure a lot of the people are smelling an upset.

“It was unbelievable how he jerked me around so much. He had me on the defensive all match. I lost my game plan. I felt I had to struggle all day.”

Struggle is a mild description for McEnroe’s performance. Seldom, if ever, has he played a match in a Grand Slam event so loosely.

McEnroe committed 59 unforced errors, more than double Glickstein’s total of 23. His service percentage was a mere 55%.

McEnroe’s level of play sunk to a point that Glickstein found within his reach. Had Glickstein played his best, the U.S. Open would have been minus a top-seeded player.

“I don’t think this is my best match,” Glickstein said. “I’ve played better than last few weeks.

“I think this match was very different for him (McEnroe). It was very, very noisy, it was the first match of the tournament. That’s always the easiest round to upset the top seed. He’s beatable then, before he can get into the atmosphere of the tournament.”

McEnroe, however, had to hand it to Glickstein--if not the match, then at least a few words of respect.

“He plays a very, very strange game,” McEnroe said. “He’s quicker than he looks. He has great stamina. I thought I’d be all over his serve, but I couldn’t break him at all. He played a hell of a match.”

McEnroe was just glad to know that for him, there would at least one more match in U.S. Open ’85.

“I’m just happy I have a chance to regroup and think about it,” he said. “When you win, 7-6, in the fifth, I’m certainly not going to take any match for granted.”