U.S. Open Notebook : Becker Still Digging for Winners

To hit the deck or not to hit the deck, that was the question confronting Boris Becker, the bouncing baby boomer, as he moved his act to the U.S. Open.

Becker captured the Wimbledon championship in July with a Pete Rose approach to tennis, diving head-first to save passing shot after passing shot. He got away with it because the plush lawns of Wimbledon have a lot to give, but taking the plunge becomes a different proposition when the surface is the rock-hard concrete at Flushing Meadow.

Would the dives subside when Becker debuted in New York? Would the notion of self-preservation keep him on his feet?

Well, Becker admits the hard courts are a definite consideration, but he was still tumbling to turn out winners Tuesday during his first-round victory over Peter Doohan, 6-4, 6-1, 6-2.

At 4-4 in the first set, Doohan held break point and had Becker out of position at the net. He thought he had caught Becker off balance before Becker pulled a somersault to dig out the ball and flick it back for a winner.

Becker went on to win the set. The rest of the match proved a breeze.

“I made a dive and made a point,” Becker said. “But I cannot do like I did at Wimbledon. I’d bust my bones.”

The match was Becker’s first ever in the main competition of the U.S. Open. Last year, he was a finalist here in the boys juniors division.

Becker says he has more trouble with the atmosphere surrounding the court than the court itself.

“You cannot compare this to Wimbledon,” he said. “Wimbledon is so quiet. Here, it is so noisy. And, it is very windy. I had problems with my serve. But, you can’t let it disturb you.”

Becker was then asked the question of this year’s U.S. Open: What were his thoughts on a potential quarterfinal meeting with John McEnroe?

“You have to take it round by round,” he said, sounding as if he’s seen a few interviews with football coaches. “If I’m losing the next round, I cannot go on and play the quarterfinal.”

That’s a lesson that McEnroe nearly forgot in his opener against Shlomo Glickstein.

Youth Coup: With her 6-1, 6-4 triumph over Sara Gomer of Great Britain, Mary Joe Fernandez became the youngest women’s player ever to win a match at the U.S. Open at 14 years, 8 days.

The old record: Gabriela Sabatini, who was 14 years and four months when she won here in 1984.

Letting Up Isn’t Hard to Do: Carling Bassett, the 15th-seeded player in the women’s field, has this problem. It’s been cropping up in each of her last five tournaments.

With each match, the pattern is always the same: She wins the first set with ease, then struggles fiercely the rest of the way. Sometimes, she holds on to win. Other times, she’s more generous.

Her victory over Czechoslovakia’s Iva Budarova on Tuesday followed the same form: The scores were 6-0, 6-7, 7-5.

So, what happens to Bassett after the first set?

“They’ve been asking that question my last five tournaments,” she said. “I’d like to not think about it at all.

“I’ve been playing really tough first sets and I think that’s kind of a disadvantage for me because the girl on the other side of the net says ‘She’s killing me, and I’m just gonna start going for shots.’ Then, I start getting a little nervous just because they start getting into the match.”

Someone asked Bassett if this trend concerns her.

“Wouldn’t you be a little concerned?” she said. “But at least I’m pulling ‘em out now.”

Business As Usual: Although McEnroe had one giant-sized scare, all of the top-seeded players advanced as expected in their first-round matches.

In the men’s division, No. 3 Mats Wilander defeated Vijay Amritraj, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4; No. 6 Anders Jarryd downed fellow Swedish countryman Mikael Pernfors, 6-3, 7-6, 6-4; and No. 12 Johan Kriek turned back Australia’s Peter McNamee, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

In the women’s bracket, No. 3 Hana Mandlikova swept past Great Britain’s Amanda Brown, 6-2, 6-1; No. 5 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch beat Niege Peliano Dias, 7-6, 6-1; and No. 12 Wendy Turnbull bested Romania’s Virginia Ruzici, 6-4, 6-1.