Newport Beach Tennis : Cash Lacks Flash but Wins to Advance to Final : Wimbledon Champion Disposes of Fitzgerald, Will Face Hard-Hitting Curren

In a punch-the-clock fashion, Pat Cash defeated John Fitzgerald, 6-3, 6-3, in a semifinal match of the $75,000 Hartmarx tennis tournament Saturday at the John Wayne Tennis Club in Newport Beach.

For Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon champion, it was a ho-hum match. He played a predominantly baseline game, going to the net only when winning opportunities seemed certain.

Although his performance lacked the tremendous flash and dash witnessed last month at Wimbledon, Cash got the job done, advancing to today’s final at 1:30 p.m.

He will face Kevin Curren, a 1985 Wimbledon finalist, who defeated former Southern Methodist University star Richey Reneberg, 7-5, 6-4, in Saturday’s earlier semifinal.

“I thought it was a good match,” Cash said. “I’m a lot more relaxed playing here than in Grand Prix events.”

Not so relaxed was Fitzgerald, who was kept on the defensive throughout. Using powerful passing shots and slices, Cash frustrated Fitzgerald’s net game. Using deep crosscourt forehands, Cash kept Fitzgerald running. And, using a few tricks like a backhand swat volley to Fitzgerald’s feet, Cash dampened his opponent’s confidence.

Even so, Fitzgerald maintained his intensity, surprising Cash with a few tricks--mainly slices and drops shots--of his own. But a few tricks just weren’t enough to keep Cash at bay .

In the first set, with Fitzgerald serving at one game apiece, Cash rallied from 40-0 to deuce, pressuring Fitzgerald with high topspin groundstrokes. When Fitzgerald abandoned the baseline and tried the net attack, Cash scooped up a dink and swatted it down the line for a winner--and his first service break.

But on his next serve, Fitzgerald came back with four straight points, planting a perfect sideline volley and keeping Cash off-balance with crosscourt rallies.

At 5-3, Cash began coming to the net, breaking Fitzgerald, and he took the set, 6-3, with corner shots and drop volleys.

In the second set, Cash seemed to lose a bit of his concentration, tossing easy groundstrokes into the net and well beyond the baseline. In between these apparent lapses, however, were flashes of excellence.

At 2-2, he served two winners, sliced for another and added an ace at game point.

At 4-3, Cash kept Fitzgerald running--and hitting into the net--to break him for a 5-3 lead.

In the final game, Fitzgerald held Cash to deuce, but gave up the advantage with a netted backhand. At match point, Cash came in on a low lob, powering a forehand down the line for the victory.

“When you win Wimbledon you’re obviously on a high,” said Fitzgerald, who last defeated Cash at the 1983 Australian Indoor Championships. “To play him well, you have to get a lot of first serves in. Especially with the conditions here, (which are) very fast.”

Which happen to be perfect conditions for Curren, who once served 33 aces and 70 service winners against Jimmy Connors in the 1983 Wimbledon quarterfinals. And that, of course, was on grass.

Against Reneberg, Curren wasn’t quite up to 1983 form--or that of ‘85, when he served past Connors and John McEnroe into the final against Boris Becker--but all the same, Curren’s serve (seven aces, 14 service winners) helped stifle Reneberg.

“I think I served very well today,” said Curren, 29, a resident of Houston. “He (Reneberg) had very good return. He likes a big pace serve. But the conditions are good for me here.

“(Against Cash) I’d like to keep him back, I think.”

Reneberg, who just turned professional in early July, fought an impressive battle against Curren, who is ranked 20th in the world. Though he managed to return many of Curren’s blazing serves, Reneberg finally lost because of an overabundance of unforced errors, mainly his powerful, two-handed backhand catching more net than fair court space.

“I thought I played very well,” said Reneberg, 22. “It’s hard when he serves so well.”

Any advice for Cash?

“Well, he (Curren) doesn’t have too many weaknesses,” Reneberg said. “Especially on fast courts. His second serve has a lot of spin on it, too. And he hits the ball very hard.”