WIMBLEDON : Becker Keeps Lendl Record Perfect : West German Will Play Edberg, and Loser Is Now 0 for 10

The years come and go for Ivan Lendl in his personal purgatory, where he walks off the court after every loss and thinks, gosh, that grass has just got to be greener next time.

And this may be the year that a raining champion is crowned at Wimbledon. Showers washed out the women’s final Saturday, so Steffi Graf and Martina Navratilova have to wait another day.

Those imaginary dark clouds that have followed Lendl around the hallowed grounds of Wimbledon cast an eerie shadow over him once again.

For the 10th time in 10 trips to Wimbledon, Lendl left knowing that he has to wait until next year for another shot at winning the only Grand Slam title that has eluded him.

With the strength of a powerful backhand, Boris Becker propelled himself into the men’s singles final on a gloomy Saturday afternoon, and in four hours one minute, he ended Lendl’s quest for the championship he covets most.

Becker, given time to regroup from a one-set deficit during a one-hour 16-minute rain delay, came back to beat Lendl in their semifinal showdown, 7-5, 6-7 (7-2), 2-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Now, weather permiting, Becker will play Stefan Edberg today in a rematch of last year’s Wimbledon final, which Edberg won.

Knowing that the final again would not include him, did not make Lendl feel very good.

Passing in front of the Princess of Wales as he left the court, Lendl did not break stride to nod his head in the direction of the Royal Box, leaving Becker to walk off alone.

Becker was sympathetic toward the breach of etiquette by his longtime rival whom he defeated here in last year’s semifinals, as well as in the 1986 final.

“Well, it was a difficult moment for him, and I didn’t want to be in his position right now.”

Lendl’s mood was as grim as the sky, the color of a bathtub ring. When he answered questions in a postmatch press conference, his disposition had not improved much.

Question: Is this one of the most disappointing losses?

Answer: They are all disappointing.

Q: How do you get over something like this?

A: Time.

Q: Do you replay the match a little bit?

A: No, don’t worry about it.

There are probably a few moments that Lendl will remember for a very long time. Rain turned out to be an unexpected adversary for him.

Before the rain stopped play, Lendl led, 3-0, up two breaks in the third set.

“He was just all over me,” Becker said. “Then the rain came. That was definitely good for me. You know, I could settle down. I could think again and come back fresh.”

At the time it began raining, Lendl sensed that Becker’s game was in disarray.

“I felt he was shattered at the time when we went off the court,” Lendl said. “I had a feeling he didn’t know what to do at that moment . . . and he came back and started playing better.”

Lendl’s last moment came early in the fourth set. He went up a break to 3-2 when Becker double-faulted at break point.

But then Lendl gave it right back with his own double fault at break point, and the set was on serve again at 3-3.

“If I held serve there, I felt I would be pretty much in the driving seat,” Lendl said.

Becker also realized that momentum was on the verge of shifting in Lendl’s favor.

“I knew I have to break or I’m going to be out of these championships in another 15 minutes,” Becker said.

Serving at 4-5, the match slid away from Lendl even more, given a slight nudge by a couple of unhelpful actions by chair umpire Paulo Pereira, who replayed points after overruling service line calls.

When Lendl double-faulted to 15-40, Becker held two set points. But Lendl fought back to deuce twice before Becker earned a third set point with a brilliant down-the-line backhand return of a second serve.

At 4:51 p.m., after 3 hours 23 minutes of tennis, Lendl dumped his first volley into the net off Becker’s service return. In that one moment, the fourth set was over, the match was dead even and the fifth set was to begin.

For Becker the margin of victory was a single service break he collected off Lendl in the fourth game. Lendl double-faulted for the seventh and last time at break point, and Becker led, 3-1.

Lendl couldn’t find another spot to pull even. Kept off balance by the power and accuracy of Becker’s withering backhand, Lendl eventually trailed, 5-2, but held serve to stay in the match.

Then, when Becker blasted his 17th ace straight down the middle of the court, the message for Lendl was clear. This wouldn’t be his year at Wimbledon either.

A service winner pushed Becker to 40-0, and when he struck a forehand crosscourt for another winner, the match was over.

Wimbledon, a fickle companion, spurned its most ardent suitor once again. Next year, Lendl will come back and hope things turn out differently. He is even thinking about skipping the French Open to better prepare for another assault on his battlefield of grass.

“I am very disappointed because I thought I played well and I thought I had a good chance,” Lendl said. “I just wish I had won.

“I am not going to roll over and not try again, so it’s going to be hard for awhile, but I’m sure I’ll get over it.”

No matter how many times he leaves Wimbledon in defeat, Lendl said he will remain optimistic. He won’t come back to the grass courts next year riding a backhoe.

Why should he? After all, fate isn’t really conspiring against him here, is it?

“You have to play well, you have to stay healthy and you need a little bit of luck,” Lendl said. “Then that is what you need to win. I would always like to think it evens out sometimes.”

Tennis Notes

Boris Becker leads his series with Stefan Edberg, 10-7, but he has lost three of their last five meetings. Edberg beat Becker in the semifinals at the French Open. They are 1-1 on grass. . . . For what it’s worth: In the 17 previous Becker-Edberg matches, the winner of the first set has gone on to win 16 times. Edberg is 34-6 this year and Becker 39-5. Edberg is 25-5 in seven years at Wimbledon and Becker is 29-3 in six years. . . . Rick Leach and Jim Pugh play John Fitzgerald of Australia and Anders Jarryd of Sweden in the men’s doubles final today. Fitzgerald and Jarryd completed a rain-delayed semifinal win over U. S. Davis Cuppers Ken Flach and Robert Seguso, 4-6, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3. . . . Today’s tickets will be good for both the men’s and women’s finals, as well as the other matches.

TODAY’S SINGLES FINALS

WOMEN: Martina Navratilova vs. Steffi Graf.

MEN: Boris Becker vs. Stefan Edberg.

TV COVERAGE: The matches will be shown by NBC (Channels 4, 36, 39) on a delayed basis on the West Coast, starting with the women’s match at 7 a.m., PDT.