OUT OF SERVICE : Noah Turns Out to Be No Match for McEnroe in First Singles Showdown

On the first return of the first match of the United States versus France Davis Cup competition Friday, Yannick Noah of France cleanly hit a dipping backhand return past a startled John McEnroe.

Noah would not lead again.

“For about 10 seconds,” Noah said. “I was very confident.”

One hour 56 minutes later, he had suffered the worst singles defeat of his distinguished, 11-year, 38-match Davis Cup career, a 6-3, 6-4, 6-1 loss at the San Diego Sports Arena.

In 1988 World Group Davis Cup play, the team that won the first singles won the competition 13 of 15 times.

Only once before had Noah lost a Davis Cup match in straight sets. Yugoslavia’s Slobodan Zivojinovic defeated him, 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in 1985.

“I have never had such a hard time on a Davis Cup court before,” Noah said of Friday’s loss.

But Noah also said he could not remember anybody playing as well against him as McEnroe had. “I felt like I was just there to make him feel good and look good,” Noah said.

This was not supposed to be a rout. Noah entered as the 12th-ranked player in the world on the latest ATP computer rankings, McEnroe as No. 6.

Noah’s athleticism, fire and strong early 1989 form were supposed to make this an even contest against McEnroe, who hadn’t played a tournament match in a month.

McEnroe, who never lost his serve, broke Noah in the eighth game of the first set with a down-the-line backhand winner, then again in the first game of the second with another backhand pass. Three more McEnroe service breaks in the third were a surprise to nobody.

“I didn’t serve too well and I didn’t move too well,” Noah said. “And as the match went on, he played better and better.”

It was McEnroe’s fourth career victory over Noah without a loss. And it was achieved mostly because he won 81% of the points in which he put his first serve in play. Noah did not have a break point against McEnroe. Noah won only 14 points against McEnroe’s serve.

“Yannick relies a lot on his confidence and starts to break down if you make him do things he’s not comfortable with,” McEnroe said. “Like hitting great returns.”

Noah, who will turn 29 next month, battles tendinitis in his knees. And despite his early-season form, he has lost two five-set matches during March in which he won the first two sets.

“My knees were fine,” he insisted after the match.

But Noah recently talked publicly about the future he anticipates after tennis. He said he planned to sail around the world with his girlfriend, Erica Wollweber.

He said he didn’t consider tennis to be “my real life.”

More and more he will be forced to consider 1983 the highlight of his career. That year he defeated Sweden’s Mats Wilander in Paris to win the French Open.

Noah was born in Sedan, France, the son of a professional soccer player. But he grew up the tribal village of Etudi, a rainforest outpost in Cameroon. There he met U.S. tennis player Arthur Ashe, who was in the middle of a good-will tennis tour. Ashe tipped French tennis officials to Noah’s potential. And the French took care of the rest.

Now, after all these years, his body needs more time between matches.

After Friday’s match, McEnroe suggested that perhaps Noah hadn’t practiced all that hard this week. “He probably figured he was match-tough,” McEnroe said. “But those were different guys he’s been playing against, not John McEnroe.”

And when McEnroe caught Noah crowding the net at the outset, he backed him off with several topspin lobs. It forced Noah to retreat. And it forced a flag-waving, near-sellout crowd to begin realizing McEnroe was covering more court than Noah.

The most damaging topspin lob came in the eighth game of the first set, just before McEnroe’s first service break. After that, Noah was confused. McEnroe even used the word confused to describe Noah’s play in the latter stages.

“I knew,” McEnroe said, “that if I could hurt him on his serve, he’d start getting down on himself.”