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McEnroe Ousts Wilander in a Struggle; Connors Missteps, Exits

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Times Staff Writer

Mats Wilander and Ivan Lendl thought they were in for a couple of street fights when they walked into the men’s semifinals of the U.S. Open Saturday.

Laying in wait were those surly Americans, John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors, respectively, who play that rowdy brand of tennis, cursing and spitting while they do it.

But a twist of fate--and a twist of an ankle--left one of the neighborhood bullies without a fighting chance.

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McEnroe, of course, delivered as expected, scraping and clawing his way from behind to score a 3-6, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Wilander.

But Connors, for all intents and purposes, lost his semifinal with Lendl before the first serve had been stroked. Connors sprained his left ankle during a practice session earlier in the day and came up limping for his night match with Lendl.

The left ankle is the one that propels Connors’ most potent shot, the two-fisted backhand. At less than full capacity, the 33-year-old Connors was easy prey for Lendl, who advanced in straight sets, 6-2, 6-3, 7-5.

That set up a rematch of last year’s final--and sent Lendl into the U.S. Open championship match for the fourth straight year.

Lendl is still looking for his first U.S. Open championship. Connors predicted that he’ll have to wait at least another year.

“I think McEnroe will win,” Connors said following his loss to Lendl. “I think McEnroe will be coming in a lot, and Lendl won’t play as well as he did tonight.”

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Why not?

“He never does,” Connors said.

Today at 1 p.m. (PDT), Lendl gets another chance to erase that stigma, another chance to prove he is no longer Ivan the Terrible in Grand Slam events.

Of course, if Lendl loses, that will make four straight defeats in the U.S. Open finals--a tournament record. If that happens, he may never rid himself of the choke label that has followed him since his 1982 loss here to Connors.

“It would mean a lot of things,” Lendl said about the prospect of winning the U.S. Open. “It would mean that I would have won the tournament I want to win the most. This is the championship of the country I wasn’t born in, but where I live now and I enjoy very much. (Lendl currently resides in New York City.)

“It would mean next time I make it to the finals somewhere, there wouldn’t be as much pressure.”

McEnroe has a 13-11 career record against Lendl. It was 11-all until McEnroe scored wins over Lendl at tournaments in Vermont and Montreal during August.

“The more I play him, the better I am,” Lendl said. “You can learn a lot from your losses and what I try to do is think of what I can do better after losing to him.”

Lendl’s record against Connors has swung in a different direction. Saturday’s victory was Lendl’s seventh straight over his longtime rival.

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“I feel I have found out good strategy (against Connors) and am able to use it,” Lendl said. “My volleys have improved and my backhand slice has improved.”

The condition of Connors’ left ankle didn’t hurt Lendl’s chances, either. Connors said that if the match had entered a fourth set, he probably would have been forced to retire.

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