Tennis Roundup : Angry Lendl Beats Curren for Toronto Title

Defending champion Ivan Lendl, threatening to walk out during the first set, won his fifth Player’s International tennis tournament title Sunday at Toronto with a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Kevin Curren.

Lendl, 28, needed 1 hour 55 minutes to defeat the South African-born Curren in humid 100-degree temperature and stiff winds at the National Tennis Centre at York University.

Lendl, who resides in Greenwich, Conn., earned $161,595, and Curren, 30, now a U.S. citizen, won $80,797.

Disputes over line calls marked the first set tiebreaker--in which both players had three set points--with Lendl threatening to walk our when Curren took a 6-5 lead. Lendl, angry over a call when Curren made it 5-5, told chair umpire Richard Ings to change the line judge “or I’m not coming back.”

He sat down in his chair, but returned when Ings gave him a code violation and warning. The line judge was not changed.

Lendl continued his stalling tactics and it paid off when Curren hit an east volley into the net on set point in the tiebreaker, which he eventually lost, 12-10.

Top-seeded Kent Carlsson of Sweden defeated Thierry Champion of France, 6-0,6-2, to win the $160,000 Aosta Valley tournament at Saint Vincent, Italy.

Carlsson, who had a tough, three-set semifinal against Alberto Mancini of Argentina, earned $25,000 for the victory.

Champion had upset No. 2 Martin Jaite of Argentina and No. 4 Marcello Filippini of Uruguay on the way to the final.

Austria’s Thomas Muster defeated Argentina’s Guillermo Perez-Roldan, 6-4,5-7,6-2 to win a $170,000 tournament at Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Spain’s Conchita Martinez defeated Austria’s Barbara Paulus, 1-6,6-1,6-4, in the singles final of a $100,000 tournament at Sofia, Bulgaria. The victory counts toward the Virgina Slims World Championship.