Mayotte Becomes the Latest Upset Victim : L.A. Tennis Center Is a Difficult Spot for Tournament’s Top Players

Here at the Volvo Tennis/Los Angeles tournament, the seeds apparently are being scattered by an ill wind. Another seeded player, No. 3 Tim Mayotte, lost in the first round Tuesday at the Los Angeles Tennis Center at UCLA.

Mike Leach, of Ann Arbor, Mich., beat Mayotte, 7-6, 5-7, 6-3. There now remain only two players in the world’s top 15 here: top-seeded Stefan Edberg, No. 4 in the rankings, and second-seeded Brad Gilbert, No. 13.

Tournament organizers have watched three of the top five seeded players lose in the first round.

Leach fashioned his upset in blue-collar style. He served hard and worked for all his points in the 2-hour 25-minute match.

To hear Leach tell it, it’s what he didn’t do--and say--that made the difference.

“If anything, I surprised myself with the fact that I kept my mouth shut today,” he said. “I’m a Type A, hyperactive guy. I was able to concentrate. Normally, I’m a little more volatile. I woke up today and said, ‘I won’t say a word.’ I’m going to give this a shot.”

That was more than Mayotte was able to do. The man the British call Gentleman Tim was fined for an audible obscenity. But then, Mayotte has been off his form since his good run early this summer.

“My serve has been a problem for some time,” Mayotte, ranked No. 14, said. “I felt I served well until the big points. It wasn’t that I served so poorly, just when I needed the points.”

Just when he needed it most, his serve-and-volley game fell apart. Mayotte double faulted at set point in the tiebreaker, losing the first set.

Yet, flashes of the old Mayotte emerged in the second set. “It was good to come back like that,” he said.

Down, 3-0, he battled back to win the set, 7-5.

Mayotte had great success with backhand lobs against Leach, who likes to hit a big serve, follow it in and camp at the net.

“It’s a good point against me,” Leach said. “I crawl all over the net. He caught me flat-footed half a dozen times.”

The timely return of his own serve sustained Mayotte in the second set, but its absence in the third made the difference. Leach broke in the fourth game of the third set, thanks to two double faults by Mayotte.

Double faults on the first point and the last framed the game. “I just couldn’t serve well on the tough points,” Mayotte said.

It sets off a vicious cycle. The more he double faults, the deeper he gets into a hole, the more tough points he’s going to face, the more he’s going to double fault. . . .

Still, Mayotte held off five break points in that fourth game before another double fault gave Leach the break and the lead at 3-1.

Leach carefully protected his own service games with tough serving. Conscious that players often lose their own serves after they break, Leach came back in the fifth game with two aces and won it at love.

Each player then held his serve, allowing Leach, with his one break, to win the set and match.

If Leach’s hurry-up whip of a service motion is reminiscent of Roscoe Tanner’s, it’s because Leach has spent a lifetime studying to make it so.

“He was my childhood idol,” Leach said of Tanner, who was a Wimbledon finalist in 1979 and possessor of the fastest serve in tennis at the time.

“I made a conscious effort to hit a quick, hard serve. I’m not as big as (Tanner) is, but (his similar service motion) is whippy.”

Leach said he surprised himself with his ability to come back and win the third set. “If there’s one thing I did in this match, it’s I stayed in there physically and mentally.

“I should’ve perhaps lost that tiebreaker. I could have won the match in the second set. There were a lot of could’ves and should’ves. But I won.”

It was Leach’s first win over a top 20 player this year. “I’ve been playing well,” he said. “I’ve had some tougher draws. I’ve been playing the big guys this year. I started this summer well.”

Leach, No. 73, lost to Brad Gilbert at Livingston, N.J., the week after Wimbledon in the first Grand Prix final of his career.

Although Leach seems to be on an upward swing, Mayotte is caught in a perplexing downward spiral that may be epitomized by his confusion about the problem with his serve.

“It’s mechanical,” Mayotte said, shaking his head. Then, when pressed for more details, Mayotte smiled wanly and said, “I don’t really want to talk about it.”

There’s not much to say about what’s been happening to his serve or his career, at least as far as Mayotte is able to discern. He’s an introspective player in the best of times, and the last 2 1/2 months have caused him to retreat deep inside his psyche for answers.

Earlier this year, Mayotte, 26, had been the picture of consistency. He began the year at the U.S. Pro Indoors at Philadelphia, where he beat Jimmy Connors and Yannick Noah and appeared on his way to a match against Ivan Lendl in the final.

He never got there, though. Mayotte had to default after he tore cartilage in his rib cage. That injury accounted for five weeks off the tour. When he came back he did well, getting to the semifinals in Fort Myers against Connors before losing.

Mayotte had reason to think his troubles were behind him when he won Queens, the Wimbledon tuneup, beating Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and, finally, Connors. The last tournament he can recall playing well was Wimbledon, where he lost to Lendl in the quarterfinals.

Then Mayotte clinched the Davis Cup against the Mexicans with his thrilling win over Leo Lavalle in July.

Since then, Mayotte has not advanced past the second round in five tournaments.

“I keep working at it,” Mayotte said. “I keep telling myself I’m a good player, I have a solid history. There’s no reason why I can’t regain that position I was in before or surpass it.

“You have to be willing to put up with the bad times and work yourself through them. Everyone goes through it.”

Tournament Notes Andrei Chesnokov was the hit of a tournament party Monday night. The Soviet player attended the players’ party, with its Western motif, and was soon wearing a straw hat and blue bandanna. He also was reported hoofing to country and western music until 11:30 p.m. Chesnokov lost in the first round Tuesday, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, to Christo Steyn. . . . In other first-round matches Tuesday, Stefan Edberg beat Sammy Giammalva, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3; David Pate beat Leo Lavalle, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Todd Witsken of USC beat Jimmy Arias, 7-6, 6-1; Aaron Krickstein beat Jim Pugh, 6-3, 7-5, and Brad Gilbert beat John Sadri, 6-4, 6-4. . . . John McEnroe will play his first-round match tonight at 7:30. . . . Tournament officials say ticket sales are brisk. Sales are ahead of last year’s pace, and Sunday’s final is sold out.