U.S. OPEN TENNIS : For the First Time in Many Years, It’s Wide Open

Some might call the recent behavior of the world’s most prominent tennis players a bit strange, or possibly, charming, if you favor the kind approach.

Whereas last year was--with a few exceptions--a campaign of dullness, in 1987 the top players seem to have taken the year off for strange behavior.

Just two days before the U.S. Open starts here, let’s take a look at this strange year, a year featuring, among other things:

--The inclusion of one Seo Daeshik, guru and professed expert in sports medicine and martial arts, into John McEnroe’s entourage.

--Entourage, you say? Don’t say it to Wimbledon champion Martina Navratilova. She doesn’t like to think of her, uh, traveling party, in those terms. This despite having such a large following of friends--human and canine--that it would make Muhammad Ali in his prime jealous. “I get 20 tickets at Wimbledon and someone has to distribute them,” she said.

Even Sugar Ray Leonard joined Navratilova’s party for a spell.

Navratilova’s preparation for her Wimbledon final against Steffi Graf consisted of advice from Leonard and hitting with him shortly before taking Centre Court. Surely, it was a tennis first.

--The life and times of Chris Evert, formerly Chris Evert Lloyd.

She divorced John Lloyd earlier this year and promptly took up with former Olympic skier Andy Mill. Let it be recorded that Evert did not practice with Mill or Leonard before playing Graf at the recent Virginia Slims of Los Angeles.

During the week, though, she hit with, none other than former husband John, as Mill watched. But there is no jealousy in this situation because they’re all acting like adults. Evert and Mill even dined with John and his new girlfriend during Wimbledon.

--The hobbies of Boris Becker. Becker, the $5-million man, recently said that he wouldn’t mind someday getting into a less lucrative field, acting.

Just think of the money Becker could make moonlighting.

--Jimmy Connors, the highest seeded American at the Open, has taken to traveling with his own straight man, actually a short man, his young son Brett.

Earlier this month, Connors talked about what an accomplishment it would be if he were to somehow win at Flushing Meadow.

“It would be amazing,” Brett said.

--Then, there’s Peter Graf, father of the new No. 1 female player in the world, who is making his name as the Phil Wrigley of tennis, insisting that Steffi play only day games.

At Manhattan Beach, where Steffi eventually became No. 1, Peter threatened to pull her out of the tournament if she was scheduled to play a night semifinal match against Gabriela Sabatini.

He did that having gotten a commitment from the promoters that Steffi would just play two night matches--both before the semis on Saturday--before she consented to accept a wild card.

And, Peter added, the Grafs don’t like Steffi to play at night. “She goes to bed early,” he said.

So, what if she had been scheduled at night?

“If she play at night, we go,” said Peter.

The promoters backed down and the Grafs didn’t say good night. Thus, the order in women’s tennis was changed two days later.

Which brings us to the National Tennis Center here in Flushing Meadow, where Graf’s ascendancy to the No. 1 spot is one of the hottest topics in tennis. It’s no longer Chris and Martina or Martina and Chris. People are curious about Steffi.

Graf, who will play 54th-ranked Bettina Fulco of Argentina in the first round here, has won 50 of her last 51 matches, the defeat having been administered by Navratilova at Wimbledon. She didn’t lose a set in her first 15 matches of 1987 and has dropped just 9 all year.

“Barring injuries or some crazy, howling wind, based on her record, Graf has to loom as the big favorite,” said Steve Flink, television analyst and managing editor of World Tennis.

“She has a game that holds up and she has an awful lot of equipment. The speed of the (concrete) court works for her. It’s her best surface. On clay, she has to work harder.”

On the clay at the French Open, Graf won her first Grand Slam title last June. More impressive, however, was her performance on the grass at Wimbledon, considering she hadn’t played a grass court tournament in almost two years. Graf played superbly to reach the final, scoring a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Pam Shriver in the semifinals.

After Manhattan Beach, Graf said she was pleased to get the No. 1 ranking before the U.S. Open, claiming it removed a lot of pressure. Although Navratilova is now in the unfamiliar spot as the challenger, she also must feel somewhat insecure after her performance at the Slims of Los Angeles.

Evert beat Navratilova, 6-2, 6-1, one of the most one-sided victories in their epic 74-match series. Oddly, Navratilova skipped subsequent tour stops in Toronto and New Jersey, instead electing to play a couple of exhibitions.

“I’m surprised she did that to herself,” Flink said. “But she’s hurt herself with scheduling the entire year. She played the Australian Open and played nothing until Lipton. Finally, after she lost to Chris, she started putting it together and played the Italian Open and the French.

“At the last minute she played Eastbourne (a Wimbledon tuneup), even though she hadn’t planned on it. It was the smartest move she made all year. Even though she lost, it helped prepare her for Wimbledon.”

For the U.S. Open, Navratilova’s groundwork has been downright lousy. An ankle injury after Wimbledon forced her to miss five weeks of action, including the Federation Cup. The draw, however, is in Navratilova’s favor. She will play American Kate Gompert in the first round and shouldn’t run into much of a threat until the round of 16. Sweden’s Catarina Lindqvist, the 14th seed, is Navratilova’s projected opponent in that round and No. 8 Sabatini looms in the quarterfinals.

Both No. 4 Hana Mandlikova and No. 6 Helena Sukova are in Navratilova’s half of the draw. But they have had mixed results this year.

Australian Open champion Mandlikova has been bothered by injuries since the French Open and lost to Sabatini and Barbara Potter this month. Sukova, a U.S. Open finalist last year, beat Navratilova and Evert to win Eastbourne but has lost to people such as Bettina Bunge and Katerina Maleeva recently.

The draw isn’t a walk for Graf, but she already has had one huge problem eliminated. For once, Sabatini is in the other half. They’ve met 10 times already in their short careers, and Sabatini has pushed Graf to three sets seven times. Graf’s probable opponents are No. 5-seeded Shriver in the quarterfinals and No. 3 Evert in the semifinals.

Although Shriver is playing well, coming off her first win over Evert, she won’t be a match for Graf on concrete. Evert has lost three times to Graf this year and hasn’t won a set.

Because of these factors--Graf’s dominance, Navratilova’s struggles and Sabatini’s place in the draw--the men’s field probably holds more suspense.

Sure, Ivan Lendl has been No. 1 since Aug. 19, 1985. He’s the two-time defending Open champion and current French Open title-holder. But even though his spot in the draw is good, Lendl doesn’t consider himself the heavy favorite, or the favorite at all, for that matter.

Part of this, of course, is talk. Why put pressure on yourself? Still, there are four other players who could realistically win this Open, in order:

--Stefan Edberg. The world has been waiting for him to break through someplace else other than Australia. He’s won twice Down Under, but usually has faded once the going gets serious in the other Grand Slams. He has risen to No. 2 in the rankings and had little trouble defeating Becker during consecutive tournaments at Montreal and Cincinnati this month.

--Becker. As the No. 4-seeded player here, he has an unusually tough first-round match, against American Tim Wilkison. Wilkison, a quarterfinalist at the Open last year, has defeated Becker once and provided stiff competition on other occasions. Furthermore, he doesn’t seem intimidated by his seemingly bad draw.

Wilkison told a New York paper: “I think that anybody who wants to see Boris Becker better come out on Tuesday, because he won’t be around after that. How’s that sound for a quote? It sounds like wrestling.”

Knowing the history of their matches, Wilkison may provide a strong challenge again. But Becker probably will be ready this time, considering his second-round loss to Peter Doohan at Wimbledon.

--McEnroe. So, which McEnroe will surface at the U.S. Open? Whether it’s the lethargic player who showed up at the French Open or the spirited, charged-up McEnroe of the Davis Cup match at Hartford, Conn., no doubt he’ll be drawing the attention of the fans and media at Flushing Meadow.

Inconsistency has been McEnroe’s strong suit this year. His comeback sputtered and stalled, then looked strong at Hartford and Stratton Mountain. He battled Becker in a 5-set, 6-hour 40-minute Davis cup battle before losing. And at Stratton, he took the first set from Lendl in the final before the rains came and postponed the match in the second set.

After those successful performances, McEnroe slipped again, losing to Connors in Montreal and Paul Annacone in Cincinnati. So which McEnroe will show for his first-round match against Matt Anger? Only he knows. Then again, maybe he doesn’t.

--Pat Cash. Since defeating Lendl to win Wimbledon, Cash has done nothing, but he seldom does much in minor tournaments. Pardon the pun, but Cash is a money player. The more significant the event, the better he plays. His Davis Cup accomplishments and Wimbledon title are testimony to that. Lesser events feature less-than-great play from Cash.

Others worth noting are last year’s finalist Miloslav Mecir, who has defeated Lendl once this year, and No. 3-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden. Lendl could meet McEnroe in the quarterfinals and Connors or Becker in the semifinals. In the other half are Edberg, Wilander, Mecir and Joakim Nystrom.

Although many observers are calling this tournament the most open Open in years, Flink begs to differ, saying that Graf and Lendl are heavy favorites.

But if Graf or Lendl were to lose, then an open Open might become a reality. There would seem to be even more a chance of that among the men.

That practically anyone could win isn’t an entirely crazy concept, either. Not in the year in which the two-time defending Wimbledon champion, Becker, was knocked out in the second round; in which a new player has finally reached No. 1 in the women’s game, and in which strange behavior, even for tennis stars and their families, has become the norm, not the exception.