Australian Open Picks Up Where It Left Off

Ivan Lendl’s tummy aches, Monica Seles is fighting burnout, Boris Becker is reeling from two first-round upsets, and John McEnroe is hiding far from the scene of his crime.

The Australian Open tennis championships, the year’s first Grand Slam event, picks up Monday where it left off last year when it turned into a topsy-turvy affair Down Under.

And Andre Agassi, to whom image is everything and tennis is something less, is still missing.

Stefan Edberg, forced to default because of strained stomach muscles during the final against Lendl last January, is the men’s No. 1 this time while, strangely, No. 3 Lendl has come down with the same injury that Edberg had. Could muscle strains be contagious, or might it be something in the Koala Springs mineral water?

Lendl served at two-thirds speed after feeling twinges in his tummy during a tuneup tournament in Sydney last week, then defaulted from a match against Wally Masur before the start of the third set. Lendl resumed practice here later in the week and pronounced himself fit enough to try to defend his title.

Meanwhile, No. 2 Becker bounced from defeat to defeat in Adelaide, losing not so magnificently to Magnus Larsson of Sweden in the first round of the Australian Men’s Hardcourt championship and to Goran Ivanisevic of Yugoslavia at the Rio International. Ivanisevic, who waged a memorable duel with Becker before losing at Wimbledon last summer, served 21 aces against Becker this time to win in three sets.

Aussie officials won’t have McEnroe to kick around or kick out, as they did last year when he threw his racket and a tantrum on the court during a fourth-round match against Sweden’s Mikael Pernfors. McEnroe’s default set off a foot-stomping, hooting protest by fans and cost him a shot at the title.

No grudge, mates, McEnroe said when he called from Hawaii a few days ago, but a shoulder injury suffered in practice was slow in healing.

Pete Sampras, who beat McEnroe, Lendl and Agassi on the way to winning the U.S. Open in September with 100 aces, and Ivanisevic may be the strongest challengers to Edberg as the Swede seeks his third Australian title. He won here on grass in 1985 and 1987.

Sampras and Ivanisevic are both classic serve-and-volleyers like Edberg, though Ivanisevic has yet to prove he has the physical and mental stamina to win a Grand Slam championship.

Sampras, the California son of Greek immigrants, will have one advantage over most players -- the strong support of Melbourne’s Greek community, the largest in the world outside Greece.

Steffi Graf, the women’s top seed, is going after her fourth straight Australian title. She hasn’t won a Grand Slam tournament since last January, but is fit and eager to put behind her a year of assorted ailments, injuries and personal problems.

“I’ve told myself that I have to enjoy it more. There shouldn’t be so many hassles and tough times,” she said a few days ago.

The 21-year-old missed two months of tennis last year with a broken thumb from a skiing accident, endured drawn-out speculation over her father Peter’s sex life, and had surgery for a sinus condition. But she is determined to stay focused on her game this year.

“I’m not really under pressure” in Melbourne, she said. “It is nice, though, to have not lost on that specific (stadium) court before.”

She said the younger players, like 17-year-old Seles, were posing more of a threat than in the past.

“Now they live more for tennis,” Graf added.

Seles, No. 2, appeared to be Graf’s most likely challenger until an overdose of tennis led her to drop out of the Sydney tournament. Claiming mental and physical fatigue, Seles retreated from the courts to cheer on swimmer Janet Evans in the world championships in Perth and recharge herself for the Open.

With Martina Navratilova absent after recent knee surgery and last year’s runner-up Mary Joe Fernandez just back after a month off due to hand surgery from an infected wart, Graf’s next toughest challengers are expected to be Gabriela Sabatini and Zina Garrison.

Sabatini, winner of the U.S. Open in September with a final victory over Graf, suffered a severely sprained ankle that knocked her out of the third round here last year.