Centre Stage Now Belongs to Cash, Lendl

Friday evening, near the end of his magical mystery tour of Wimbledon, Jimmy Connors got a little encouragement from one of his many female fans, who broke the Centre Court silence by yelling, “Don’t give up, Jimmy!”

Connors shouted back, “I’m trying, for Crissake!”

Ten years ago, that kind of behavior by Connors would have caused the locals to collectively spit out their tea. This time, the crowd roared its appreciation of Connors’ humor.

The one-time beastie boy has become a huge sentimental favorite, as lovable as one of Charles Dickens’ urchins. Wimbledon fans have learned to appreciate Connors, and vice versa.

Alas, too late. Making what is likely to be his last big run at the final, Connors was served-and-volleyed back to reality by Pat Cash, 6-4, 6-4, 6-1.

That set up a Sunday championship match between Cash, the Australian with the earring and the checkerboard headband, and Ivan Lendl.

A classic confrontation: The head Czech vs. the checked head.

Lendl spotted Stefan Edberg one set, then Lendl’s heart and serve kicked in and he cruised to a 3-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-4 win.

Connors, trying to squeeze one more Wimbledon title out of his 34-year-old body, just couldn’t get into the match against the 22-year-old Cash, a strong and graceful athlete who loves to play on grass.

Connors, even with his wife, Patti, and his one-time Wimbledon sweetheart, Chris Evert, cheering him on from the sidelines, could do nothing more dramatic than break Cash’s serve in the ninth game of the second set, only to have Cash break right back for a 2-0 lead in sets.

If a Playmate, a tennis queen and a full house of adoring Brits can’t inspire you to the heights, maybe it’s time to bid Wimbledon adieu.

“I didn’t feel like I was in the meat of the match at any time,” Connors said. “I couldn’t take a bite of the match to get it going. I didn’t have my teeth into it, for some reason.”

Then Connors left the grounds, presumably in search of a sandwich.

What he couldn’t get his teeth into Friday afternoon was Pat Cash’s serve, a textbook model of power and precision that had Connors, to use a British word, flummoxed. In the first set, Connors had one point against Cash’s serve. That’s a 20-1 advantage for Cash. And Cash won the first set by breaking Connors’ last serve, or rather Connors broke himself, with consecutive faulty forehands.

Connors finally broke Cash in the ninth game of the second set with a cross-court volley that sent Cash lunging. But Cash broke back immediately to win the set. Connors double-faulted away his second ad serve, just missed a base-line volley and then couldn’t reach Cash’s backhand volley off what looked to be a well-placed Connors forehand. “If I’d won that game for 5-all, it could’ve been a different story,” Connors said.

It also would have helped if he could have discovered his once-awesome return-of-serve. Cash, whose serve-and-volley game seems perfectly suited to grass, had 10 aces to Connors’ 1, and the Australian won 47 points on approaches to the net. The ground-stroking Connors had just 10.

Connors had defeated Cash in three of their four previous meetings, including a straight-set win at a grass tournament in England three weeks ago. But Cash was playing at a higher level this time, and Connors had used up his magic in the five matches he won to reach the semifinals.

“He was a bit tired today,” Cash said. “He didn’t move his feet the way he normally does, (but) he’s an amazing player.”

Maybe Connors had too much rest, a full day. He was at his best in this tournament when operating on no rest, fueled by adrenaline and spunk. But by the third set Friday, the amazement had faded away. When Connors fell behind, 3-0, in that set, Chris Evert walked out, her newest boyfriend in tow.

Patti stayed, and Connors went down swinging but also playing to the crowd. When someone yelled, “Let’s go, Jimmy,” he replied, “Anything else I can do for you?”

The fans loved it. But when it was over, Connors declined to wallow in the glory of having reached the semifinals against formidable odds.

“I’m not satisfied by getting to the semis,” he said. “That doesn’t do me any good.”

But it probably did, and it certainly gave the tournament a boost, what with all the early rain and the early washout of Boris Becker.

“I think they (the fans) were grasping for someone to liven it up,” Connors said. “I think the whole country got into that. They needed something to really get ‘em going.”

Connors was once the guy who got ‘em going away angry, back when he was a vulgar and brash kid who thumbed his nose, and worse, at Wimbledon. How times change.

“I feel when I first came over here, I had a different rapport with the people over here,” Connors said, meaning no rapport. “We had clashing attitudes. I think over the years we have had a very nice meeting in the middle . . . a mutual respect, mutual admiration.”

And now the fans will work on meshing attitudes with a brand-new champion. Ivan Lendl put in his bid Friday with a relaxed yet intense win over Edberg, the Swede who won the last two Australian Opens, on grass.

Lendl got off to a shaky start, blowing a triple-break point opportunity in the opening game.

Edberg began hitting heavy and accurate first serves to Lendl’s relatively ineffective backhand. But Lendl broke out a fresh racket in the eighth game of the second set, got his backhand working and broke serve in the 10th game to win the set, finishing it with a crisp backhand cross-court return.

Lendl’s serve, normally good for five or six aces a set, didn’t account for an ace until the fifth game of the third set. Yet, the serve was effective: Lendl lost only five points against serve in the second set.

The third set came down to a tiebreaker, won by Lendl on Edberg’s serve, on a rocket of a forehand passing shot.

“After I won the ‘breaker I felt great because I was feeling that he was slowing down,” Lendl said. “He was looking rather red and his serve was losing a bit of pace. I said even if I lose the third set, just keep him in there, make him play, because if someone gets tired, it won’t be me.”

Iron Ivan got stronger in the fourth set, breaking Edberg for a 5-2 lead with a cross-court backhand, and Lendl finished off the set and the match with an ace.

“I don’t know if it was convincing, but it was a win,” Lendl said. “I take it any way I can.” Friday, he took his win quietly, in the shadows of Jimmy Connors, but Jimbo is gone now, and the spotlight falls on Lendl and Cash.