Jarryd, Annacone Lose in First Round at UCLA : Lundgren Upsets Fourth-Seeded Swede; Yzaga Ousts the Defending Champion

It was thought that with the withdrawal of Ivan Lendl and the shaky status of John McEnroe that the $315,000 Volvo Tennis/Los Angeles would be lacking in excitement.

That was before Monday’s first-round upsets at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA. The first upset came as fourth-seeded Anders Jarryd lost to fellow Swede Peter Lundgren, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5. The next match on the same court produced the second upset as fifth-seeded Paul Annacone, last year’s champion, lost to Jaime Yzaga of Peru, 6-1, 6-4.

Jarryd thought he went through pain two months ago during arthroscopic surgery to remove cartilage in his left knee. It was nothing like the pain he felt after his loss Monday.

“I think it’s going to take time,” Jarryd said of his recovery. “I’m so tight right now. I haven’t played so many matches. That’s an unbelievably bad feeling to come out and not play the way you want to play. I just have to work hard. It takes time.”

Jarryd went up a break in the 11th game of the first set, after each player lost serve twice. He held in the 12th game to take the set.

Lundgren got only one break in the second set, that came in the sixth game to give him a 4-2 lead, but it was all he needed to win the set.

Service games remained the key in the final set. Lundgren served five aces in the set, while Jarryd’s two double faults in the fifth game allowed Lundgren the break.

It was a big win for the No. 52 player in the world.

“I’m happy but tired,” Lundgren said. “I guess this is something special, to win here. If I do well here, maybe I have a chance in the future.”

Lundgren, 21, said the difference in his game is that he’s practicing more. “I’ve been playing badly for a long time,” he said. “I’ve been losing so many (matches) in the first round. I didn’t like it. I didn’t like to practice if I lost.”

Yzaga, ranked No. 68, said he fashioned his upset by adjusting his game.

Yzaga: “Today I said ‘I’m going to play serve and volley.’ It made a lot of difference because I was trying to win the points before him. I don’t think he won a point on the base line. It’s been a long time since I played like I played today.”

The comeback of Pat Cash got a boost when the 21-year-old Australian beat Nduka Odizor of Nigeria, 5-7, 6-3, 7-5.

Cash’s return to professional tennis has not been a smooth, arms-flung-wide reception.

A swollen disc had kept him out of tennis off and on for a year and a half. In that time, Cash was caught in a painful cycle: He’d play, then aggravate the injury, take time off, come back and aggravate it again.

About this time last year, Cash took six months off to completely recover.

He lost in the first round of the first two tournaments he played this year, enough to discourage him. But he got a psychological boost by beating Guillermo Vilas and Mats Wilander at Wimbledon to advance to the quarterfinals.

That showing was a bonus, as far as Cash was concerned, because three weeks before Wimbledon he underwent surgery to removed his appendix.

“I played Davis Cup after Wimbledon and did pretty well,” Cash said. “I came to the States and played an exhibition at Newport Beach and did pretty well (he won).”

In the afterglow of Wimbledon and Davis Cup, Cash slipped. He lost to Leonardo Lavalle of Mexico in the first round of the U.S. Open in a match Cash thought he could have won.

“What I’ve been doing is working on fitness,” Cash said. “I lost a lot of power after Wimbledon. I decided to get as fit as I possibly could. At the moment, I’m in the best shape of my life.

“Obviously, if you lose in the first round you’re not getting match practice. I think a mistake I made was not playing doubles at the U.S. Open.”

Asked if he would play doubles here, Cash laughed and said: “I don’t know. (I will) if I can find a partner. Nobody will have me. My doubles ranking has gone to pieces. It’s below 300.”

Cash’s singles ranking is currently No. 96, not high enough to get him in the main draw of most tournaments. He’s in this tournament courtesy of a wild card. “I think some people who’ve seen me before know I’m a little rusty,” Cash said of his play Monday. “I’m glad to get through this. I’ve lost a couple of close matches this summer.

“He (Odizor) was playing really well. He’s very quick. He gets on top of the net and he was very hard to pass. . . .”

Odizor played well, particularly at the net, where his volleys kept Cash off balance.

“I volleyed very well,” Odizor said. “I played a great match. There was nothing to be ashamed of.”

Odizor had five break points in the last game but said he played too passively.

Odizor began playing tennis in Lagos, Nigeria, where he was discovered by an American professor at a tennis club where he was a ballboy. He came to America to pursue an education and has a degree in marketing and finance from the University of Houston.

“I hope to go back to Nigeria some day and build a manufacturing plant for sporting goods,” Odizor said.

Jarryd’s arrival in Los Angeles has been an odyssey that has tried his patience. After the U.S. Open, Jarryd flew to Stockholm to consult with his doctor about his injured knee. Five days later, he flew to his home in London. Last Monday, he left London to play in an exhibition in Brisbane, Australia. He flew from London to Bahrain to Singapore to Brisbane, where he landed on Wednesday.

His luggage didn’t arrive with him, however, and he had a lot of explaining to do as he passed customs. While Jarryd was being taken to his hotel, the driver informed him that Lendl had pulled out of the exhibition with tendinitis and the event had been canceled.

Jarryd stayed overnight, got his bags the next morning and left that day for Los Angeles. That was last Thursday. He flew from Brisbane to Sydney to Honolulu to Los Angeles.

After all that, he lost in the first round.

Tennis Notes Tim Wilkison, the only American who advanced to the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open, has pulled out of the tournament. Wilkison, of Asheville, N. C., had knee surgery last Thursday. . . . Pat Cash on the Los Angeles Tennis Center: “I hate this stadium. I’ve only played three matches here, and I’ve lost two. I lost here last year and at the Olympics.” . . . John McEnroe, who is seeded sixth, will play his first-round singles match Wednesday. . . . Play resumes today at noon and 7:30 p.m., with that schedule holding through Friday. Saturday’s semifinals are at 1 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., with the final Sunday at 4 p.m.