Lendl-McEnroe Match Is Rained Out for Second Time

The first meeting in two years between Ivan Lendl and John McEnroe, in the final of the $315,000 Volvo International tennis tournament, was washed out Monday by a second straight day of rain.

Tournament Director Jim Westhall said officials will try to work out a way to complete the singles and doubles finals at a later date, and that all players want to finish.

Lendl and McEnroe were scheduled to play Wednesday in the Players International tournament in Montreal.

The doubles final also was suspended by rain. The match of Ken Flach and Robert Seguso against Paul Annacone and Christo van Rensburg had never got started.

McEnroe, who was hoping to use his match as a barometer in his attempt to regain No. 1 ranking, won the first set, 7-6, taking the tiebreaker, 7-3, but Lendl was ahead, 4-1, in the second set when a drizzle forced a halt in play on Sunday.

After waiting more than 3 1/2 hours, tournament officials suspended play until Monday. But it rained most of Monday and they decided at 3:30 p.m. to forgo any attempt to play.

The Volvo final was delayed by rain twice previously when it was held in North Conway, N.H. In 1976, Jimmy Connors beat Raul Ramirez the next day when the match was moved indoors to Manchester. In 1982, Lendl and Jose Higueras returned 57 days later, and Lendl won three games in seven minutes to complete a 6-3, 6-2 victory.

Lendl and McEnroe each will receive second-place money of $20,000 and runner-up Grand Prix points of 210, regardless of whether the final is played. The second-place points put Lendl into first place ahead of Mats Wilander in the standings. First prize was $40,000 and 300 points.

Second-place money in doubles is $6,500 a team.

Westhall said there is no time limit on deciding if the matches could be played, and Stratton Mountain is not the only possible site.

“I hope to finish the final sometime, somewhere,” Lendl said.

Lendl and McEnroe last met in the final of the U.S. Open in 1985 when Lendl beat him.