Chris Czechs Out of Open--Sukova Gets 1st Win in 14 Tries

Helena Sukova ended Chris Evert Lloyd’s dream of a seventh U.S. Open championship today with a decisive 6-2, 6-4 victory in the women’s singles semifinals.

Lloyd, the second seed who reached the Open semifinals for a record 16th straight year, had trouble with her serve throughout the match. She was broken three times in the first set and twice in the second. It was the first win over Lloyd for Sukova, the seventh seed from Czechoslovakia. Lloyd, who won the Open from 1975 to ‘78, in 1980 and ‘82, had won all 14 of their previous meetings.

Until today, Sukova’s biggest triumph was over Martina Navratilova in the 1984 Australian Open semifinals, smashing Navratilova’s 74-match winning streak.

“It was two years ago that I beat Martina and I don’t remember that so much,” Sukova said. “Always the last win is the most important. This is the biggest.”

Sukova said she wasn’t dismayed by her record against Lloyd.

“Losing so much, I thought there must be a time I’d win for the first time,” she said. “It was mostly to my advantage--she had more pressure to keep the streak.”

The 21-year-old Sukova battled Evert Lloyd closely in their two most recent meetings. In the Wimbledon quarterfinals this year, Evert Lloyd won in three sets before beating Sukova in a tough two-set match at the Federation Cup.