Gilbert Upsets Becker, Joins Connors, McEnroe : He Becomes Third American to Move Into Men’s Quarterfinals in U.S. Open

American tennis, given up as dead, seemingly sprang back to life Monday at an appropriate forum, the U.S. Open.

Spectators had gathered at the National Tennis Center to see whether Jimmy Connors could coax one more Open victory from his 35-year-old body, and whether John McEnroe could somehow weather the latest storm. What they certainly didn’t expect to see was an American, Brad Gilbert, pull off the upset of the tournament, defeating No. 4-seeded Boris Becker, 2-6, 6-7, 7-6, 7-5, 6-1, in a 4-hour, 17-minute fourth-round marathon.

All of which means there are already three Americans in the quarterfinals--McEnroe, Gilbert and Connors. McEnroe, seeded No. 8, defeated No. 9 Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 6-4, 7-6, 6-3. No. 6 Connors, the highest-seeded American in the field, looked strong despite an injured right foot and beat No. 11 Henri Leconte of France, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

The other player to reach the quarterfinals on Monday was two-time defending champion Ivan Lendl, who might as well be an American. The native-born Czech has lived in the United States for the last seven years and has applied for citizenship. Lendl defeated No. 16 Anders Jarryd of Sweden, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4.

And there was more good news for American tennis fans as another improbable story was played out at the National Tennis Center. Wild-card Ken Flach won his rain-delayed match against No. 14 Emilio Sanchez of Spain, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5. If Flach comes through with another upset--which is highly unlikely because he meets No. 3 Mats Wilander today--there could be four Americans in the quarterfinals.

Connors plays Gilbert on Wednesday, which ensures at least one American in the semifinals. Last year, Tim Wilkison was the last American in the tournament as he lost in the quarterfinals.

While not many gave him a chance against Becker, Gilbert had different ideas. He defeated Becker earlier this summer, 3-6, 6-3, 6-0, in Washington on cement.

Somehow, it was fitting that Gilbert came from behind again. He dropped the first set, 6-2, and began returning serve better but still lost the second-set tiebreaker, 7-4.

“I was down two sets and a break in the third and I felt I was in a lot of trouble, and then he played a not-so-great game,” said Gilbert, who is seeded No. 13.

The game Gilbert referred to was at 3-1 with Becker serving. Becker, apparently in control, double-faulted twice in a row and the momentum swung with those two points.

Gilbert fought his way back to send the match to the decisive fifth set. It was almost a repeat of Washington--a final-set shutout. But Becker held his serve for 1-5 and lost the match in the next game when he hit a forehand wide on Gilbert’s first match point.

And, once again, Becker had come up short at Flushing Meadow. In 1985, on the verge of a dream quarterfinal meeting with McEnroe, Becker unexpectedly lost to Joakim Nystrom. Last year, with everyone looking for a Becker-Lendl final, Miloslav Mecir stepped in and knocked off Becker in the semifinals.

Monday’s loss, however, was more a continuation of a troubled story line for Becker in 1987. He split with his longtime coach Gunther Bosch at the start of the year, just after Becker’s blowup in the Australian Open. His not-so-grand showings in Grand Slam events continued with a second-round loss to Peter Doohan at Wimbledon.

Even now, Becker is still feeling repercussions from the breakup.

“Well, my friend, I had a very, very difficult year,” Becker said. “Many things happened which I didn’t expect would happen. Especially at the beginning of the year. It was very bad for me the way Gunther was going away from me. It was hurting me very much as a human being.

“And from then on it was just so much pressure on me that everybody was saying let’s show us how you play without Bosch and without a regular trainer. And the pressure was just too much. Everybody was waiting for the mistake and for me losing matches. And that pressure was a bit too high.”

After Becker’s sub-par 1987, could a reunion with Bosch be in order in 1988?

“If someone is going to hurt you like that, I don’t think you’re ever going back to him, no,” Becker said.

And so, just 14 months after becoming Wimbledon’s first two-time teen-age champion, Becker was faced with a new question:

Can Boris Becker come back?

“One good thing is that I’m 19 and not 32,” Becker said. “And I’m going to be back, don’t worry.”