Becker Leaves Cash in the Red : He Eliminates Defending Champion in Straight Sets

They traded cannon fire, nothing fancy, until there was nothing left but smoke on the water and, of course, the strawberry-tinged hulk, Boris Becker.

Defending champion Pat Cash, shot full of holes, was sunk in just three sets by scores of 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, Wednesday in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon tennis championships.

And so Becker, already a world-weary two-time champion here at 20, next will train his artillery on Mr. Runner-Up himself, Ivan Lendl. Lendl, who seems to be going after Wimbledon’s record for tiebreakers (if there is such a thing), had it his way in the quarterfinals, defeating Tim Mayotte, 7-6, 7-6, 6-3.

In the bottom half of the men’s draw, Stefan Edberg also advanced to the semifinals, beating Patrick Kuhnen, 6-3, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6, and Miloslav Mecir surprised Mats Wilander, who was in this for the Grand Slam. Didn’t get it. It was Mecir, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Principal among the disappointments, and most anticipated, was Cash’s failure to repeat. It happened on Centre Court and it happened quickly, at that. Becker, who rolls back on his heels and then appears to crank in sections as he serves, made short work of Cash, beating him in 2 hours 17 minutes. If all you saw of it was match point, you know how it went: Becker served, Cash moved his racket and the ball glanced off it and into the stands.

Cash didn’t break Becker’s formidable serve until the sixth game of the third set. And he only did so then because Becker double-faulted. Their match had a few niceties, a remarkable point off two net cords, a double tumble over the net, and a couple of passing shots. But mostly this was about as tactical as a Mike Tyson fight, one man booming away at another.

Becker hammered Cash so hard that the Australian even showed signs of a sense of humor. Normally sour, Cash walked into the interview room afterward wearing a bright-red fright wig.

“Can’t beat ‘em,” he said, referring to the redhead who had just handled him. It was funny, but became a bit unsettling as the interview wore on. Cash never did take off the wig.

It was a day for genuine redheads, though, as anybody who watches the royal box might have guessed. Princess Fergie was situated upon high as the players took their place on the court, Her Orangeness a foreshadowing of things to come.

It was plain, and soon enough, that Becker means to return to his own kind of royalty, the Wimbledon royalty he used to enjoy.

Just three years ago, Becker, still an adolescent, won the first of his Wimbledons. A year later he won his second, and a dynasty, not so much unlike England’s, seemed to have been established.

And then last year, Becker went and made Patrick Doohan famous in the second round. And Becker had to watch the title match from afar.

“It hurt a little bit when (Cash) won match point,” he admitted.

He said it also turned his life around--”changed everything completely.” To be 20 and already rededicated, well, that’s precocious.

But to reclaim anything, he must reclaim Wimbledon, and he knows it.

“It’s just that this tournament has given me all the fame I’ve had,” he said. “And then losing the way I did . . . “

It could have been anybody, but Cash happened to line up in Becker’s half of the draw. This match was made for the final, but was played Wednesday instead. Becker, big and wide and strawberry blond, won the toss and laced a serve right at Cash. The Centre Court crowd, which is not so well-mannered as you might have believed, expelled a big whoosh of breath, and the match was on.

They traded serves throughout that set, Cash’s holding up pretty well at that. Then Becker seized the advantage in the second set, going ahead, 2-0. Through the first three games of that set, Cash won just three points, two on double faults.

That set was enlivened at 4-1 when Becker and Cash met at the net for a bizarre exchange. They tapped soft volleys back at one another, much as in back-yard badminton.

Cash had the final tap and, so close was he to the net that he just dived over it, into Becker’s court. Becker, surprised, took a playful tumble over the net into Cash’s court. Cash got the point and game, Becker the laugh.

“I was amazed,” said Becker of the exchange. “And something came over me. I did it for fun.”

Cash had yet to acquire his sense of humor and he glared at Becker and might or might not have said something.

“I better not say what he said,” Becker said, laughing. “My English is still improving.”

Cash, still wearing his fright wig, said he didn’t know what Becker was talking about. “I’ll have to have a word with him,” Cash promised. Try to take anything seriously from a man who is wearing a red fright wig.

As routine as the scores seem, Cash was very much in this match, but his only service break came in the sixth game of the third set when Becker’s double fault gave the Australian a 4-2 lead.

Becker, however, broke right back with two double faults and two backhand passing shots, the start of a four-game run that ended with a service winner on match point.

Later Cash, still in that crazy wig, insisted that he just wasn’t returning well and that he “was already looking forward to next year.”

But Becker claimed that he broke more than Cash’s serve. “On the big points, he was nervous,” he said. “That was the difference today. When he made those two double faults at 4-2 (in the third set), I felt this was my day.

“It comes down to who has the better nerves.”

Cash was definitely consolable and not much worried about his nerves, just his return.

“That’s been my problem the whole week, unfortunately,” he said. “Hit one return here, one return there. But I didn’t have enough to put it together. But I think I put more pressure on him than he did me. . . . The third set I had all the chances again but I couldn’t quite get them. I think I had as many break points as he did, or maybe even more, but I just couldn’t quite get them.

“It isn’t exactly a bad loss,” he said. “Boris is not a bad player.”

There are no bad players left. Swede-killer Mecir, who had beaten Wilander 6 of the last 10 times, did it again.

Mecir next will play third-seeded Edberg, another Swede--one he doesn’t own--who defeated Kuhnen, the young man who bounced Jimmy Connors.

Later, the top-seeded Lendl went through Mayotte, the last remaining American. Everything, though, seems tough for Lendl here. He has played nine tiebreakers to get to his match with Becker.

Becker, who has yet to lose a set in this tournament, makes a nice match for Lendl. But then anybody seems to this late in this tournament. So far in his frustrating career, Lendl has lost two finals--one to Becker--and two semifinal matches here at the All England Lawn Tennis Club. This is the only Grand Slam tournament he has yet to win.