U.S. Open Tennis Notes : This Way, Cash Gets an Extra Week Off

After Pat Cash disappeared quietly into the night, actually into the wee hours of Thursday morning, he seemed somewhat relieved about his premature departure from the U.S. Open.

Cash lost to Sweden’s Peter Lundgren for the second time in three weeks and, more notably, became the first reigning Wimbledon champion to lose in the first round of the Open since 1971.

“I’ve had four days off since Wimbledon,” Cash said. “It’s very tiring. It’s not the end of the world. I’ve had a better year than I had last year.”

However, the reaction from Cash’s colleagues was anything but sympathetic.

“Why a break?” asked Boris Becker. “He’s only played four matches.”

Actually, Cash played a Davis Cup tie against Mexico, two Grand Prix tournaments and several exhibitions. With the exception of Davis Cup, on grass, he hasn’t done any better since Wimbledon than an ordinary tour journeyman.

Ivan Lendl also thought the 22-year-old Australian really has no valid reason to complain about fatigue. “I feel great,” Lendl said. “And I played twice as much as he did at Wimbledon.”

While this Open has been thought of as the most wide-open in years, Lendl gave several reasons why he didn’t think Cash would have contended here.

“Obviously, he’s a great grass court player,” Lendl said. “On the other hand, outside of one hard court event (the 1984 U.S. Open), he hasn’t proved anything by playing that well on any other surface, hard court and clay, anything other than grass.”

For three days, the Michael Chang story has bewildered and charmed the crowds at the National Tennis Center.

They looked at the 15-year-old from Placentia and wondered: How can this little kid, in age and height and weight, compete against these men?

Reporters flocked to listen to Chang’s life story and took a step further, interviewing his mother, Betty, and grandfather, Dr. Michael Tung.

When Dr. Tung watched his grandson beat tour veteran Paul McNamee Tuesday in the first round, it was the first time the former Taiwanese diplomat had seen a tennis match.

With the victory over McNamee, Chang became the youngest male player to win a match in the main draw during the Open era.

Thursday, the teen-ager nearly pulled off another improbable feat. Chang, playing before a large crowd, which included Davis Cup captain Tom Gorman, Arthur Ashe and Brian Gottfried, lost the first two sets to No. 87-ranked Nduka Odizor of Nigeria.

When Chang lost the opening game of the third set, spectators headed for the exit.

About an hour later, Chang and Odizor were still playing. Chang took the third set, 7-6, winning the tiebreaker, 9-7. In the fourth, Chang broke Odizor twice to push the match to the fifth set.

This, again, was a new experience for Chang. He had never played five sets in his short career. Odizor broke him in the first game, and although Chang had break point opportunities, he couldn’t come through.

Odizor ended Chang’s hopes with an ace on his second match point, winning the 2-hour 52-minute contest, 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 3-6, 6-4.

“I wasn’t embarrassed,” Chang said of the first two sets. “I couldn’t do anything against him. I’m not expected to win or anything. There’s no pressure on me. I’m 15 and I guess I expect to get blown off the court by people in the top 100.”

Form continued to hold in both the men’s and women’s draw. Lendl, Becker and Jimmy Connors all won their second-round matches in straight sets.

Lendl beat Jean Fleurian of France, 6-4, 6-2, 6-2, Connors defeated Wayne Hearn, 6-3, 6-2, 6-1, while Becker was a 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 winner over Jonathan Canter. No. 13 Brad Gilbert was pushed before beating Jay Berger, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, 6-3. In women’s play, top-seeded Steffi Graf of West Germany defeated Petra Huber of Austria, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 2 Martina Navratilova beat Robin White, 6-1, 6-3. No. 4 Hana Mandlikova struggled to beat Jo Durie of Britain, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2.