Lloyd Tripped in Semifinals, Falls to Sukova : Navratilova vs. Graf Match Is Halted Because of Rain

Father Time is reeling Chris Evert Lloyd in. She has been able to run faster than the old man in the past, but Friday in the semifinals of the U.S. Open she stumbled.

Or maybe it was that Helena Sukova tripped her. Maybe it was the case of a young, strong player, full of confidence and caring not a whit about Lloyd’s 18 Grand Slam titles, winning easily.

With her victory, Sukova advanced to a final-round date with either Martina Navratilova or Steffi Graf, whose semifinal match was halted by rain, and in so doing, the 21-year-old Czech apparently ushered in the next generation in women’s tennis.

Lloyd has to wonder what hit her to lose so badly. Sukova’s 6-2, 6-4 win in the women’s semifinal was as startling as it now seems to have been inevitable.

“She’s just physically bigger than I am, and stronger,” Lloyd said of the 6-foot 2-inch Sukova. “I couldn’t really outhit her. She was hitting the ball so hard and then she was serving the ball so hard.”

Sukova manhandled Lloyd’s serve and blasted her own. Lloyd was broken six times. Lloyd has talked a lot this week about playing in a “zone,” that place where all shots hit the line and serves are unreturnable. “When you play like that, you want to find it again,” Lloyd said.

Sukova is in the zone now. Previously, Sukova had played Lloyd close but never beaten her in 14 tries. That’s the way it used to be with Lloyd, beating everyone and using that dominance to gain a psychological edge.

Lloyd has seemingly lost that advantage, too.

“The players like Hana (Mandlikova) and Steffi (Graf) and Helena are not as intimidated with us,” Lloyd said, referring to herself and Martina Navratilova. “That’s obvious by the matches that we’ve played them. Where they’ve been weak is where they have a lead or they have us in a close situation. Most of the time that’s where Martina and I are still consistent with those players.

“But it’s obvious that on these girls’ days, they can beat us. The gap is closing in, it’s getting closer and closer. It’s disappointing for me, but it’s better for women’s tennis.

“I feel that Helena and Hana and Steffi have respect. But, on the other hand, I think they have a lot of confidence, too, and they think they can beat Martina and myself. If I start losing more to players that I shouldn’t lose to, then I deserve those types of comments (from other players). Up until now, I’ve been very consistent, and very rarely lost to anyone that I shouldn’t have.”

But now Lloyd is losing to players she should be beating with the ease that Sukova showed Friday. In the past, if she was down, Lloyd could always call up the big passing shot, the deft lob, the soft drop shot.

Friday, while staring at match point, Lloyd was in a familiar place. Surely, thought the fans who watched Lloyd grow up in the game, Chrissie would pull it out. On match point, Lloyd sailed a forehand passing shot wide.

Now, more and more, there is talk of retirement, talk of leaving the game.

Earlier this week, Lloyd reflected on her career and the twists it has taken since she charted it as a teen-ager.

“When I was 20-21, I wanted to get married and have babies,” she said. “I thought I would play a few years and then get married and have babies and that would be that. I didn’t realize how much I enjoyed the tour and playing tennis.

“The thought of playing 11 years (when I was 20) would have been scary to me and I used to look at Billie Jean King and Margaret Court and think, ‘Why are they playing,’ and I thought, ‘How can they be playing at that age?’ And here I am at 31 and still playing. Now I can understand why they are playing.”

King and Court, who were at Friday’s match, both saw shades of their own careers in watching Lloyd at the end of hers.

“I look at Chris and I know how it feels,” King said. “She used to ask me why I was still playing. You always say things that are so profound when you are young. But when you get a little bit older you find out you are not so profound.

“Chris is used to the adulation. She was raised on this. It’s all she knows. If you were the second-best lawyer in the world or the second-best doctor in the world, would you quit?”

Margaret Smith Court said she was able to leave the game because she had something important to go to.

“I was fortunate because I had a great husband and two little children,” she said. “I had a lot to take the place. I didn’t want to be mediocre. I didn’t want to be No. 3 or No. 4.”

Lloyd faces much the same question that her former fiance, Jimmy Connors, does. “Is it still enough for me?”

Lloyd is still the winningest player on the tour. She has won 90% of the time she has stepped on the court. It’s a long fall from that height to being eliminated from a Grand Slam semifinal in 1 hour 10 minutes.

Lloyd is a surgeon with slightly shaky hands. She can work, but she’s not the efficient, resourceful professional she once was. She has 14 years of experience and savvy in her head but can’t get her 31-year-old body to do her bidding.

The new guard is impatient. The youngsters are happy enough to roll over Lloyd, and Navratilova too, when her time comes. It’s a business, and the older players are in the way. Lloyd has come too far to be baggage on the women’s tour. But, clearly, she wants to be the one who decides when it’s over.

That remains her most dangerous shot.

Navratilova appeared to be on her way to yet another Grand Slam final. Then the rains came.

The women’s semifinal between the top-seeded Navratilova and the third-seeded Graf was suspended with Navratilova leading in the first set, 4-1, and serving at 15-30.

The match was rescheduled, sandwiched between the two men’s semifinals today. It’s a tough schedule for Navratilova. She’ll have to finish the match with Graf, then play in the mixed doubles final after the men’s semifinal.

The women’s final has been moved to Sunday, to be followed by the men’s final at 4 p.m.

Navratilova and Graf remained in the women’s locker room for four hours while officials pondered the situation.

“I’m sad because now it screws up the whole schedule,” Navratilova said. “In the delay, I played bridge. Let’s just say I bid well and didn’t make a mistake all day.”

Graf also sat around.

“I didn’t do much,” she said. “I played a German card game called skat with the German press guys and just talked. That’s about it.”