Tennis Roundup : Lendl Gets $55,000 but Fails to Pay Cash Back

Top-seeded Ivan Lendl outclassed Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4, Sunday in the final of the $345,000 Australian Indoor tennis championship at Sydney.

The victory gave the world’s No. 1 player a measure of revenge over the third-seeded Australian, who beat him in their other two meetings this year--in the semifinals of the Australian Open in January and in the Wimbledon final in July.

Cash, 22, said he was tired after Saturday night’s 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 semifinal victory over second-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany and was unable to hold off Lendl, who had an easy ride to the final with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Slobodan Zivojinovic.

Lendl took 2 hours 28 minutes to grind out the victory that disappointed a partisan crowd of 11,000.

It was the sixth Grand Prix title of the year for Lendl.

“I had a lot of confidence today,” he said. “I’d worked hard during the week and that transformed into quickness. It wasn’t a routine win, but it was a lot easier than it could have been.”

Lendl added $55,000 to his career winnings of $11 million, while Cash received $27,500.

“I was a little slow on my feet and missed a lot of balls I shouldn’t have missed,” Cash said. “He got off to a good start and by the time I had tightened up my game it was too late. He is No. 1 and he didn’t let up.”

Cash, whose match against Becker finished after midnight, said he managed only six hours sleep before the final.

“That is pretty tough scheduling,” he said. “I could have been sharper, but Ivan played incredible tennis.”

Lendl, who improved his record against Cash to 5-2, served superbly and was not broken in the best-of-five match.

Cash, ranked eighth in the world, made numerous unforced errors when trying to force the pace of the match and was let down by a weak second service. Lendl broke Cash’s serve early in each set and then put on relentless pressure.

The 27-year-old Czech said his game improved with each match after two straight tournament losses.

“I knew I had done the work, it was just a matter of tuning myself up,” Lendl said.

Added Cash: “Once he got on top of me, he kept playing better and better.”

Lendl said his victory did not completely avenge his Wimbledon loss to Cash.

“You don’t pay back for Wimbledon,” he said. “I lost it and that is that. Even if you win it 10 more times you don’t get that one back.”

Lendl, playing in the final for the fourth straight year, won the Sydney event for the second time. He won in 1985 when he beat Henri Leconte of France in the final.

Martina Navratilova celebrated her 31st birthday with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Chris Evert in the final of a $175,000 Virginia Slims tournament at Filderstadt, West Germany.

The top-seeded Navratilova needed only 73 minutes to overcome her long-time rival, who was seeded second.

The victory was worth $36,000 to Navratilova. But, instead of the money, she chose to pick up a sports car, offered as an alternative prize by one of the indoor tournament’s main sponsors.

“I took one last year, and I’ll take this one, too,” said Navratilova, who has won the Filderstadt tournament four times.

Evert won $16,000 as the runner-up.

It was Navratilova’s third tournament victory this year and her 40th win over Evert in 75 matches. Navratilova, ranked second in the world behind West Germany’s Steffi Graf, won Wimbledon and the U.S. Open this season. Graf did not play at Filderstadt.

Top-seeded Tim Mayotte won a $202,500 Grand Prix tournament at Toulouse, France, beating unseeded Ricki Osterthun of West Germany, 6-2, 5-7, 6-4.

It was the first time all week that Mayotte lost a set. Osterthun reached the final without having to play a seeded player.

“I didn’t play well the second set,” Mayotte said. “I was up, 4-3, and 40-0 and he took the next five points and it got away from me.”

However, in the third set, Mayotte broke Osterthun in the first game and held that margin the rest of the way.

Mayotte’s third tournament victory this year was worth $35,000, boosting his 1987 total to $240,259. Osterthun picked up $17,500.