Tennis Roundup : McEnroe Walks Off, Czechs Beat U.S., 2-1

John McEnroe, under a chorus of boos and whistles, stormed off the court during a singles match Sunday at Dusseldorf, West Germany, helping Czechoslovakia win the World Team Cup championship over the United States.

Czechoslovakia won the title, 2-1, by taking the doubles match as well as the defaulted match between McEnroe and his Czechoslovakian opponent, Miloslav Mecir.

McEnroe was trailing, 1-2, in the third set when he stunned a crowd of nearly 8,000 by walking off court. Umpire Richard Kaufmann immediately awarded the match to Mecir, who led at the time, 7-5, 2-6, 2-1.

Brad Gilbert, the No. 2 player for the U.S. team, won his singles match, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, over Milan Srejer. But Czechoslovakia’s Mecir and Tomas Smid defeated Gilbert and Robert Seguso, 6-3, 6-1.

McEnroe’s abrupt departure cost him $4,500 in fines--$3,000 for leaving the court, $1,000 for disqualification and $500 for unsportsmanlike conduct.

McEnroe’s total fines for the year stand at $9,000 and, subject to appeal of Sunday’s fines, McEnroe could be penalized an additional $10,000 for exceeding the $7,500 limit for fines incurred in 12 months.

Prior to his walking off the court, McEnroe was angered when the net judge ruled a ball he served had hit the net. The ruling nullified what would have been an ace for McEnroe.

In the game that followed, McEnroe was warned for a “time delay,” and when he still was not ready to face Mecir’s serve after the 30-second limit had elapsed, he was penalized a point.

At that stage, McEnroe walked over to his chair, packed his bag and left.

Later, McEnroe claimed the reason for his departure was not over a dispute with Kaufmann but, instead, it was because of an injury which has bothered him for about a week.

“I was injured and physically was no longer able to remain on the court for more than two minutes,” McEnroe said.

Dr. Harmut Krahl, the tournament physician who examined McEnroe after he left the court, said: “McEnroe was visibly shaken and said that he had strong pains in his back and left shin.”

McEnroe: “I didn’t hear the umpire tell me that I had to stay on the court, and I don’t think I deserve to be fined. The umpire told me later that he did tell me to stay, but I didn’t hear him.

“It wouldn’t have been overly difficult for me to stay an extra two minutes. But I wasn’t aware of the rule that says you have to stay on court until the supervisor comes.”

Tournament director Horst Klosterkemper said he was surprised that McEnroe was unaware of the rules.

“It was very surprising to me. John normally knows the rules very, very well,” Klosterkemper said. “And I wonder if all the players know the rules as well as he does.”

McEnroe said that despite his injury he will play his first-round match Tuesday against Horacio de la Pena of Argentina at the French Open in Paris.

“Under the circumstances, I needed to be ready for the French Open and I also needed a chance to rest,” he said. “I hoped my teammates could pull through and win the tournament here.”

There was no immediate announcement from tennis officials on whether McEnroe would be barred from the French Open.

Under the Men’s International Professional Tennis Council Code of Conduct, McEnroe could be punished for “aggravated behavior,” which carries a penalty of up to $25,000 and a suspension of between three weeks and one year. Last year, Jimmy Connors was suspended for 10 weeks and fined the full amount after he was defaulted when he refused to continue play at Boca West, Fla., against Ivan Lendl.

McEnroe said officials suggested the matter will not be taken any further. But Nabisco Grand Prix supervisor Thomas Karlberg said he “will take all the information with me to Paris, and the Council will look at the evidence.”

At Geneva, 32-year-old Chris Evert won the 152nd title of her career by beating 20-year-old Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, in a $100,000 women’s tournament.

“It was a seesaw match. It was mostly a question of nerves,” Evert said.

“I felt in good shape and wasn’t discouraged even though I should have won in two sets,” she said.

The match provided Evert with her fourth victory in seven tournaments this year.

Maleeva, ranked No. 8, said Evert played better than when they met in a tournament at Hilton Head, S.C., last month. Maleeva won that match, but has lost 13 of 15 matches against Evert, currently the world’s No. 3 player.

Evert apparently had no problem with the knee injury that sidelined her for five months. She broke serve twice in the first set to lead, 4-1, and profited from Maleeva’s forehand errors to win the first set, 6-3, in 40 minutes.

Maleeva took a 3-0 lead in the second set before Evert fought back to get even, 4-4. But Maleeva won the next two games and the set.

Evert conceded a break in the third game of the third set but rallied and won the last four games.

Evert double-faulted eight times. But she seemed to get stronger as play wore on, while Maleeva appeared to tire.