Grandstand Court Claims 3 More Victims : Leconte, McNeil, Gomez Join List of Seeded Players Upset in U.S. Open

The National Tennis Center is continually the target of criticism, aesthically speaking. The purists say the place has no charm and no character, unlike the tradition-laden structure across the pond, Wimbledon.

You might call the architectural design here early concrete and steel with a color scheme of gray on gray. It’s a high-tech, low-enjoyment kind of facility--sparse on tradition and heavy on grime. It has never had much to distinguish itself.

That is, until the Grandstand Court sprang to life. The court has always been a treacherous place for seeded U.S. Open players, not unlike its evil twin, Court 2 at Wimbledon.

Saturday, though, was more drastic than usual. The Grandstand closed in and claimed three more seeded players and sent them home.

Out, in order of departure, were:

--No. 10 Henri Leconte.

--No. 9 Lori McNeil.

--No. 14 Andres Gomez.

And there have been plenty of others this week. Friday night, there was 16-year-old Michael Chang’s five-set victory over No. 13 Jonas B. Svensson.

Earlier this week, the walls of the Grandstand closed in on No. 5 Boris Becker and No. 4 Pam Shriver and left them second-round losers to Darren Cahill and Leila Meskhi, respectively.

It’s not difficult to explain how Leconte lost to John Frawley or how Gomez fell to Aaron Krickstein. Frawley, who beat Leconte, 6-3, 6-4, 6-3, is from Australia, whose players have had an incredible run here. Gomez lost in four sets to Aaron Krickstein, who is in the top 20.

But how do you explain Lori McNeil losing, 7-6, 3-6, 6-4, to No. 31-ranked Judith Wiesner?

Oddly enough, the same court worked for McNeil when she sprang to prominence in 1987 with her three-set victory over Chris Evert in the Open quarterfinals. McNeil then came within a few shots of upsetting No. 1 Steffi Graf on the Stadium Court in the semifinals.

One year later, McNeil was the one who was expected to win, and the magic of the Grandstand disappeared for her.

With her results in 1988, there has been very little for McNeil to build upon. She never established a firm foundation, losing to such players as Mary Lou Daniels, Barbara Paulus and Conchita Martinez. At Wimbledon, on her best surface, she even struggled against a clay-court specialist, Susan Sloane.

Saturday, it was Wiesner who benefited from McNeil’s shaky foundation. Wiesner wasn’t playing on her best surface, either, as she prefers clay courts, but it didn’t matter. She kept banging back forehands and backhands, and McNeil kept netting easy volleys.

“I hoped to play steady,” Wiesner said. “She is always attacking, and I knew that she would attack very much. I knew I had to pass her to win. I wanted to make her earn every point, not give some present to her. That’s what I tried the whole match.

“I think it worked.”

Said McNeil: “She played well. But every time I had the opportunity to come back in the third set, I just played a little too cautious and didn’t go for it. My chip and charge has to be, like, perfect, and sometimes I didn’t go for it.”

McNeil’s year had been turbulent in other ways, too. She split with her longtime doubles partner and close friend, Zina Garrison. And on the eve of the French Open, McNeil--actually her agent--showed her coach, John Wilkerson, the door.

Earlier in the week, Garrison spoke about the split, saying:

“We have gone our totally separate ways. Eventually, somewhere down the line when we are 60 years old . . . we will become friends again.”

McNeil portrayed the split as a mutual decision. Garrison said otherwise.

“I think we have to have a long talk,” she said, “because she left me; I didn’t leave her.”

McNeil has been left behind this time, back in the third round.

On the Stadium Court, where an air of normalcy prevailed, top-seeded Steffi Graf defeated France’s Nathalie Herreman, 6-0, 6-1, in 45 minutes; No. 2 Mats Wilander beat Swedish countryman Mikael Pernfors in straight sets; No. 3 Chris Evert beat Michelle Torres, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 3 Stefan Edberg advanced in straight sets.

The only other upset of a seeded player on the men’s side occurred when Spain’s Emilio Sanchez beat No. 8 Miloslav Mecir, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-1. Patty Fendick was responsible for the other surprise on the women’s side as she defeated No. 15 Sylvia Hanika of West Germany, 6-7, 6-3, 7-5.

Finally, late Saturday night, No. 6 Manuela Maleeva ended the streak of upsets on the Grandstand Court, rallying to beat Isabel Cueto, 6-1, 1-6, 6-3. Maleeva knew what had been happening there all day.

“But I was not thinking about it during the match,” she said. “I tried to completely forget about it.”