Ends 3-Year Exile With a Victory : McEnroe the Choir Boy Wins Over Wimbledon

John McEnroe, behaving like a choir boy and playing like an angel, returned to Wimbledon in triumph today. The noise came at the match’s beginning and end--and all of it from the crowd.

In self-imposed exile from the grass-court tournament since 1985, the former three-time champion and tennis “bad boy” began his highly publicized comeback by beating Austrian Horst Skoff 6-1, 7-5, 6-1 to thunderous cheers from the spectators.

With none of his trademark fiery outbursts, McEnroe was cool and calm through the one-hour, 43-minute match on Court No. 1.

“The king is back,” BBC-TV announcer John Barratt proclaimed as McEnroe walked off court, acknowledging the cheering of his fans with a wave of his hand and a nod of his head,

“It’s a whole new ball game now,” McEnroe said. “It’s almost like starting over.”

It was a different scene than when the 8th-seeded American was eliminated by Kevin Curren in the quarterfinals three years ago, before a sabbatical from tennis and a spate of injuries dropped him from No. 2 to No. 19 in the world.

But the style of play was the same: his big serve, use of the whole court, deft flicks of the wrist at the net and always keeping the match in control.

This prodigal comeback was the focus of the second day of the tournament’s 102nd edition, where the leading women’s seeds all were in action and most won easily--including straight-set victories by defending champion Martina Navratilova and top-seeded Steffi Graf.

Navratilova, looking for a record ninth women’s singles title, needed just 49 minutes to beat Sabrina Goles of Yugoslavia 6-1, 6-2, in a first-round match on Centre Court.

On Court No. 1, Graf was three minutes faster than the defending champion in beating American Hu Na 6-0, 6-0.

Two veterans also came through with easy victories. Fifth-seeded Jimmy Connors beat Leif Shiras of Milwaukee 6-3, 7-6, 6-1, while Chris Evert defeated Alexia Deschaume of France 6-1, 6-2.

Mats Wilander, the men’s No. 2 seed, beat Eduardo Masso of Argentina 6-3, 6-4, 7-6.