Connors Manages to Keep One Foot in the Door : Despite Injury, He Advances to U.S. Open Quarterfinals With Four-Set Victory

Jimmy Connors said Monday that he would not let a nagging foot injury force him out of the U.S. Open.

“I’ll go out there and do what I have to do,” Connors said. “I’m 35, and this might be my last U.S. Open. No, don’t say it that way. This might be the last Open I play well in.”

Connors, seeded sixth, was taken to the trainer’s room Monday immediately following his fourth-round victory over Henri Leconte of France. He beat Leconte, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4, 6-3.

Connors postponed his postmatch news conference until the foot could be treated. He will continue to receive treatment during the tournament.

“I’d play out there on a peg leg, if I had to,” Connors said. “It’s the U.S. Open. It only happens once a year.”

Connors, who hasn’t won a tournament in three years, said the injury was of a chronic variety.

“I don’t know what it is. I don’t know how I got it or when it’s going to go away.”

Several times during the match, Connors received treatment on the foot in the form of padding in his shoe. He said so far, none of the treatment has been particularly effective.

“For five days, it hasn’t been perfect, but I’ve been able to play. Today was different. Everytime I make a move on it, it’s reminding me that it’s a problem.”

Connors said the pain was around a callus on the ball of his right foot. He has been examined by several doctors.

“If you don’t know what it is, how are you going to treat it?” Connors asked.

Connors said he would try to practice on the foot today, but, if it continued to bother him, he would take the day off. He is not scheduled to play again until the quarterfinals on Wednesday, at the earliest.

Defending champion Ivan Lendl also advanced to the quarterfinals, beating 16th-seeded Anders Jarryd, 6-2, 7-6, 6-4.

Lendl has won his last 18 matches at the Open and has taken 19 sets in a row.

Lendl did not drop service once against Jarryd. He broke twice in the opening set and in the 10th game of the third set.

After Lendl broke Jarryd’s serve in the seventh game of the first set, the two players held serve 22 straight games before Lendl broke again to win the final game of the match.

“I didn’t like anything about today except I won,” Lendl said. “I wasn’t moving as well and not hitting as crisply. I was missing. It was muggy, hot and humid, and it was hard to play.”

In third-round matches, 14th-seeded Emilio Sanchez lost to unseeded Ken Flach, 5-7, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5, and Jonas Svensson of Sweden defeated Jaime Yzaga of Peru, 2-6, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2, 6-2.

John McEnroe, seeded eighth, was played ninth-seeded Andres Gomez in a late match. A victory by McEnroe would send him against Lendl in the quarterfinals.