TENNIS ROUNDUP : After Davis Cup High, McEnroe Hits a Low

After putting everything he had into the Davis Cup, John McEnroe came up empty Wednesday.

Only three days after helping the United States sweep past Spain, McEnroe was upset by Cristiano Caratti of Italy, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-5), in the first round of the Manchester Open at Manchester, England.

“After the euphoria of winning in the Davis Cup, coming here was an inevitable letdown,” the third-seeded McEnroe said. “I never got a grip on the match. I had chances, but I didn’t capitalize on them and I got discouraged because there were no breaks in the match.

“My serve was not as good as I would have liked. It was difficult to get a feel of the ball. I would have liked it to have been better for the people here. I had to play indoors (Tuesday), and I felt like I was hitting the ball well. But I think I was kidding myself.”

McEnroe received a warning Wednesday for racket abuse during the second set but never lost his temper.

“I understand if you give me a warning for missing returns, but not for that,” McEnroe joked to umpire Dana Loconto.

McEnroe also complained about a Caratti serve he thought was long and about some late-arriving spectators.

It was only Caratti’s third match on grass--he played as a junior at Wimbledon in 1988 and another at Rosmalen, the Netherlands, last week.

“I didn’t know how I was supposed to play on these courts,” said the Italian, who has climbed to 27 in the world rankings from 232 at the end of 1989.

“When I was drawn to play McEnroe I thought it would be good experience in learning how to play. I am very happy with this win.”

Fourth-seeded Brad Gilbert, who also had a singles victory against Spain, was another upset victim, losing to Gilad Bloom of Israel, 6-2, 6-0.

In other matches, second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Yugoslavia beat Andrew Castle of Britain, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3); Veli Paloheimo of Finland beat Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-2), 6-2, and Jeremy Bates of Britain celebrated his 29th birthday with a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) victory over Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands.

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova lost only two points on her serve and defeated Brenda Schultz of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-2, in 36 minutes to reach the quarterfinals of the Pilkington Ladies tournament at Eastbourne, England.

Navratilova has lost only four games in her three victories in the tournament being used as a warmup for Wimbledon next week.

In other matches, fourth-seeded Jana Novotna of Czechsolovakia downed Lori McNeil, 6-2, 7-6; second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario defeated Elizabeth Smylie of Britain, 6-3, 6-3; and third-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez beat Helen Kelesi of Canada, 6-2, 6-4.

Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia got past Julie Halard of France, 7-5, 7-6 (8-6); Heather Ludloff outlasted Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3, and Pam Shriver defeated Patricia Hy of Canada, 6-2, 6-3.

Unseeded Eduardo Masso of Argentina upset second-seeded Mark Koevermans of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-4, in the second round of a tournament at Genoa, Italy.

Top-seeded Ronald Agenor of Haiti struggled past Andrei Medvedev of the Soviet Union, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6, and moved into the quarterfinals.

In other matches, seventh-seeded Carl-Uwe Steeb of Germany struggled past Bart Wuts of Belgium, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1, and eighth-seeded Jean Philippe Fleurian of France overcame Lars Jonsson of Sweden, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4.