U.S. OPEN : Bad-Boy Spirit of Connors Is Carried On : Young Players Get Into the Act as He Turns 37, Wins Despite Cramping

It was the 37th birthday of one-time bad-boy Jimmy Connors, which may be the only way to explain what happened at the U.S. Open on a startling Saturday of tennis and temper tantrums.

Right in front of the umpire’s chair and a sellout crowd, Yannick Noah refused to shake hands with Amos Mansdorf after beating him in a thrilling, five-set match that was carried over from Friday night because of rain.

Now, if there’s one thing you can count on in tennis, it’s the ritual handshake between the players standing at the net after a match. So when there almost wasn’t one Saturday, well, you can imagine the outrage.

The whole thing was nearly an international incident between France (Noah) and Israel (Mansdorf). Noah began getting flustered by questions about the incident in an interview session.

“Obviously, everybody is getting nervous about the whole issue, including me,” Noah said.

Noah was angry at Mansdorf for yelling an obscene remark at his family during the match the night before and demanded an immediate apology. Then, when Noah repeated the obscenity as he chastised Mansdorf, it was picked up by CBS-TV and broadcast live nationwide.

Yes, it was quite a day for tennis. Mansdorf, taken by surprise, told Noah he was sorry and walked off the court to cheers. When he left after a 3-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 7-5, 6-2 third-round victory, Noah was booed loudly, but he blew kisses to the crowd.

“When he insults my family, that isn’t very nice,” Noah said.

The problem began the night before when Mansdorf yelled something at Noah’s mother, sister and girlfriend sitting courtside.

“They were cheering after I missed first serves,” Mansdorf said. “I insulted them because they were intimidating me.”

Noah said Mansdorf was out of line.

“Yes, sometimes you lose and make a mistake and people clap, but that happens on both sides,” he said.

Noah, who was one game away from losing at 3-6, 3-6, 3-5, will meet Alberto Mancini in the fourth round.

Connors celebrated his birthday with a 6-1, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, victory over Andres Gomez of Ecuador, but it was a short-lived party. Connors limped off the court with leg cramps and spent two hours in the trainer’s room.

Next for Connors (as soon as he is able to stand) is third-seeded Stefan Edberg, who defeated Milan Srejber of Czechoslovakia, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1. Edberg received news of Connors’ physical problems with skepticism.

“I’m not going to listen to that,” Edberg said. “I’ll bet you he will be on court Monday.”

There were two minor upsets on the sixth day of the Open--wild-card Jim Grabb ousted 12th-seeded Emilio Sanchez of Spain, and Mikael Pernfors of Sweden defeated 15th-seeded Carl-Uwe Steeb of West Germany--but everyone else got through to the fourth round as expected.

Ivan Lendl had the easiest time. The top-seeded player defeated 19-year-old Jim Courier, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3; Andre Agassi defeated qualifier Philip Johnson, 6-1, 7-5, 6-2; Michael Chang defeated Pieter Aldrich of Sweden, 6-0, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, and Tim Mayotte defeated Ronald Agenor of Haiti, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.

On the women’s side, Steffi Graf needed 37 minutes to win her third-round match against Terry Phelps, 6-1, 6-1, and continue toward a possible semifinal against either Gabriela Sabatini or Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Sabatini beat Leila Meskhi of the Soviet Union, 6-2, 6-0, and Sanchez Vicario came from 1-3 in the third set to defeat Sandra Wasserman of Belgium, 6-1, 2-6, 6-4.

Wasserman had four break points for 4-1 in the third, but Sanchez Vicario bore down and saved them all.

Graf plays Ros Fairbank of South Africa in the fourth round, and if she wins, then meets either Larisa Savchenko of the Soviet Union or Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia in the quarterfinals.

If Sabatini beats Spaniard Conchita Martinez, 17, and Sanchez Vicario gets past Barbara Paulus, they will meet in another quarterfinal.

Chang, who is one victory away from a potential match against Lendl, showed a different personality Saturday. Perhaps in commemoration of Connors’ birthday, Chang said from now on, it’s no more Mr. Nice Guy.

On successive points, Chang approached chair umpire Bruno Rebeuh and argued loudly about two line calls that went against him. Not only did Chang raise his voice, wave his arms and stamp his feet, he also uttered something that sounded very much like what Noah said to Mansdorf.

“I didn’t cuss or anything,” Chang said.

“I’m not just going to stand there and take it,” he said. “I’m not some pushover. Sometimes you wonder if (the chair umpire) is taking sides or something.

“I want to let the umpire know that I’m there and I’m going to argue if I think it’s wrong,” he said.