THE SEOUL GAMES / DAY 13 : Tennis : Flach, Seguso Move One Step Nearer the Gold : In Gorman’s Opinion, U.S. Duo Is Unbeatable

Ken Flach and Robert Seguso of the U.S. Olympic tennis team raised the game of doubles to an art form here Thursday.

Playing for a chance to win the gold medal, the American pair took apart the Czech team of Miloslav Mecir and Milan Srejber, 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. In Saturday’s final, they will play Spain’s Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, 6-2 winners Thursday over Swedes Stefan Edberg and Anders Jarryd.

The victory by Flach and Seguso was achieved in 1 hour 28 minutes, extremely fast for a best-of-five match. And the lopsided score was significant for a number of reasons.

First, it was learned that there was some question whether Flach would even be able to compete in the Olympics. So severe was the muscle strain in his right shoulder that Coach Tom Gorman gave him a number of chances to back out when he got here.

In his first-round match, he was barely able to get any zip on his serve but, according to sources, the injury has improved dramatically. Nevertheless, his participation here at all--for no money and no grand prix points and at some jeopardy to his career--is a nice story in itself.

Second, Thursday’s comprehensive victory will go a long way toward securing Flach and Seguso’s position as the top doubles team in the United States, and perhaps the world. They have won two Wimbledon and one U.S. Open title and have never lost a Davis Cup doubles match. But currently, the team of Rick Leach and Jim Pugh, who have beaten Flach and Seguso twice recently, are “breathing down their throats,” according to Gorman.

And third, they are among the top boosters of the Olympic movement for tennis players.

“A lot of the players playing here aren’t quite sure how to take the Olympics,” Flach said after Thursday’s match. “As for me, I’m sure right now. I think playing for a gold medal may be the biggest achievement of my career.”

The best view of Thursday’s match is through the eyes of Gorman, the Seattle native who lives in Rancho Mirage and has been U.S. Davis Cup captain for the last 4 years.

Flach and Seguso have already broken Srejber’s serve for a 2-1 lead in the first set. They look loose, eager, sharp.

“Really good doubles is kind of boring,” Gorman said. “You need two players with different styles. That’s exactly what you’ve got with these two. Seguso is the strong server. He will rarely lose his serve because of his serve. If he loses it, it will because of his volley. Flach is just the opposite. He will rarely lose his serve because of his volley. If he loses his serve, it’s because of his serve.

“You also have to have one great returner and one flashy one. On this team, Seguso is the great returner. That’s why you put him in the forehand court. It’s the first point. And he seldom misses. Flach makes spectacular returns, and so when he gets the big return in, it’s just a bonus.

“You see, basically, that’s all that doubles is about, putting together four returns. That’s what these guys do. You watch Henri Leconte and Guy Forget play doubles, and they look sensational. But they only put two returns together, not four. So they lose.”

The first crisis for Flach and Seguso is with Seguso serving at 3-2. It goes to 30-40, but Seguso, just as Gorman has pointed out, gets a first serve in, Mecir fails to return, and Flach makes a couple of quick poaches to keep his team up a break. Mecir is shaking his head already, perhaps at his own play, or perhaps because he knows that Srejber, his 6-foot 8-inch teammate, is to serve again. When Srejber serves, he is all elbows and kneecaps, and they don’t always seem to operate in sync. Across the net, Flach and Seguso look like they can hardly wait.

“These guys don’t move (poach) a ton, but just enough to keep you off guard,” Gorman said. “It really helps that they’ve played together as much as they have. They’ve come back from two sets down at Wimbledon to win. They always think they can break the other team’s serve. Like Srejber out there, they really want to get at him.

“In the last 20 years in American doubles, I think McEnroe and Fleming would be No. 1, followed by Smith and Lutz and then these guys. And whether or not they pass Smith and Lutz will just amount to how well they improve on their record. It gets to be a matter of how many Grand Slam events they win now.

“In that 20-year period, McEnroe was clearly the best doubles player there was. The old line about what was the best doubles team in the world? McEnroe and anybody else. Well, I think that’s almost true. Second-best of all-time was probably Roy Emerson of Australia. He won the French Open with 5 different partners.”

Seguso hits a big cross-court forehand and Srejber’s serve is broken again. Mecir is alternatingly glaring at his partner and at the ground. Flach and Seguso quickly run out the first set, 6-2, then break Srejber the first lick they get at him in the second set for a 2-1 lead.

“When you watch this and think of what we have in men’s doubles in the United States, it is just amazing,” Gorman said. “I think Smith and Lutz lost something like twice in all their years in Davis Cup play, and McEnroe and Fleming only once. Flach and Seguso are yet to lose, so that’s something like 18 years of U.S. Davis Cup men’s doubles with perhaps three losses.

“And you see that Flach and Seguso are about 25, 26 and Leach and Pugh are a few years behind that (23 and 24) and it looks like a rosy future.”

On the court, the future of their match looks very rosy for Flach and Seguso. They have just weathered, fairly painlessly, what will turn out to be the only real charge by Mecir and Srejber. They break Flach’s serve and put Seguso in a position of having to serve for the set at 5-4. He gets his first three first serves in for 40-love, then the Czechs fight back to 40-30. Gorman mumbles that Seguso will get his first serve in and the match will pretty well be over. Seguso gets his first serve in, Mecir can’t return it, and the match is pretty well over.

Srejber serves the first game of the third set, foot-faults a second serve at 30-30, then double-faults on game point. Mecir won’t look at him. Flach and Seguso can’t get enough of the guy.

“With Smith and Lutz, lots of the same elements were there as with this team,” Gorman says. “Lutz was the strong returner, and the only difference there is that he played the backhand side. And with Smith--and I know, because I used to play with him--you had the feeling that all you needed to do was get the ball back and keep it low and he would just take care of the rest. He was so tall and intimidating at the net.

“And they were confident, real confident. Like these guys.”

The third set is a joke. Flach and Seguso break Srejber’s serve to start the set. (He holds serve just once in five tries in the match.) The Czechs have tried everything, including playing an Australian formation against Flach’s return.

At 1-5 and love-40 on Mecir’s serve, Flach cranks a backhand volley right between Mecir and Srejber, who are staying as far from each other as they can, for the match.

Gorman stands up and stretches as the teams shake hands at center court. He shrugs like a man about to leave his office after another routine day.

“Great coaching,” he says.