Connors Goes Out Like No One Else : French Open: Back pain forces him to quit at the beginning of the fifth set against Chang after he receives several ovations.

He’s 38, with a body that probably belongs in a cedar closet and not the French Open, but as shadows stretched across Court Central early Friday evening at Roland Garros Stadium, Jimmy Connors brought 18,000 people to their feet.

Unfortunately, Connors could not stand with them.

After 3 hours 35 minutes, on the first point of the fifth set, Connors sent a service return scooting into the corner past the outstretched racket arm of Michael Chang, then walked off the court.

Connors leaned against umpire Bruno Rebeuh’s chair and said he could play no more because his lower back had stiffened.

And so ended one of the most remarkable matches in Connors’ remarkable annals. It will go into the books as a defeat, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2, 4-6, 0-15, retired.

Connors, who summoned help from the trainer twice during the third set, got through the fourth set despite intense back pain, then went out to start the fifth set.

Why?

“I had to try to quit when I was ahead,” Connors said, after limping into the interview room.

He received an ice massage and an intravenous solution in the training room after the match and then described his back problem.

“I feel OK,” he said. “Actually, to be honest, I feel like. . . . But it was fun.

“I’m the last guy who’s going to stop a match like that, with 18,000 people rocking, but if I could have had any chance to continue at all, I would have.”

All in all, it was a trademark Connors performance, long on guts and short of frills, but also one that was completely unexpected, and not just because of Connors’ age, which is twice that of Chang’s.

Coming off wrist surgery last fall and given no real chance to accomplish much of anything on clay, the most torturous of tennis surfaces, Connors won his second-round match with Ronald Agenor in five sets and still was able to push Chang to the brink.

It was an acutely relieved Chang who accepted the victory, then compared it to passing a college entrance exam.

“This was like an S.A.T.,” Chang said.

For something like the French Open, where tradition is coated with red clay, Connors presented a marvelous opportunity to seize, savor and clutch like a relic someone who may not pass this way again.

The standing ovations Connors received when he won the fourth set and again when he walked off the court a point later were only the last in a series of shows of affection he was accorded, beginning when he walked out of the tunnel and onto the court.

During the match, Connors kept up a conversation with the fans.

When he heard a fan yell, “Come on, Jimmy,” Connors lowered his racket and responded, “Believe me, I’m trying, don’t worry.”

Even after losing six consecutive games in dropping the third set, Connors had a few words ready for a couple he saw leaving their box seats.

“Don’t leave,” he said. “It’s not over yet.”

He was right. Connors won the fourth set after taking a 2-0 lead, eventually needing a service break in the ninth game to get a 5-4 lead before winning it on his own serve.

But by then, Connors knew he was in trouble. He slumped in his chair, resting his head against the back of the chair. He stood up and poured a bottle of water over his head. The crowd cheered madly during that changeover.

“I was going to play the fourth set, no matter what, win or lose it,” said Connors, who was asked to list his physical difficulties.

“Well, I’ve been run ragged for about four hours, I chased balls forever and my back is stiff--but it was fun,” he said.

Boris Becker and Andre Agassi also reached the fourth round, but did so hours earlier, and with a great deal more ease than did Chang.

Becker disposed of Wally Masur, 6-3, 6-3, 6-2, and said his right thigh felt fine with a day’s rest after his five-set victory over Todd Woodbridge.

“Two days ago I was nearly out of the tournament, (but) today I felt good right from the beginning,” Becker said. “I’ve had my tough match, which I need, I don’t know why. I just hope my body keeps it up.”

The simplicity of Agassi’s 6-2, 6-2, 6-0 rout of Patrick McEnroe probably surprised even Agassi, who had been fretting about his inconsistent play before the tournament. Apparently, three rounds of the French Open were enough to curb his skepticism.

Said Agassi: “This is the best I have ever hit the ball.”

Said McEnroe: “I sure hope so.”

It took Agassi only 95 minutes to complete the match and a couple of sentences to assess his chances here.

“This is probably the best tennis I have ever played,” he said. “I am playing extremely well. I wanted to peak around the French Open. My only concern is that I’ve peaked too soon. I’ve still got a week left.”

Agassi will play Alberto Mancini in the fourth round, and Becker will play Francisco Clavet. Chang’s path is the toughest: Guy Forget and then probably Becker.

Actually, it may be impossible for Chang to be in more trouble than he was against Connors.

Far from being a classic clay-court player who hits with looping topspin, Connors slices his backhands and hits flat, deep forehands, which makes him a difficult player to beat regardless of age.

“People always talk about his age, but I personally try not to,” Chang said. “Everybody knows Jimmy Connors is tough. You know not to take him lightly. He is who he is.”

Chang was 3 months old when Connors played in his first French Open in 1972.

There was one time during the match, with the crowd cheering him on, that Connors yelled: “You should have seen me in ’71.”

Actually, ’91 wasn’t too bad, either.

French Open Notes

Steffi Graf’s third-round victory Friday over Shaun Stafford was a near-perfect imitation of her second-round match, also won, 6-0, 6-1, in 45 minutes. Graf was asked if she felt there was anything remarkable about the match. “Well, if you didn’t see anything and I didn’t, then I don’t think so,” she said.