TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN : In Vintage Form, McEnroe Storms to Win

It was the old John McEnroe, equal parts of brash and dash.

McEnroe argued with officials early in his match against Andrei Cherkasov, a 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory Wednesday that moved him into a third-round match against defending champion Boris Becker in the Australian Open.

In other men’s matches, No. 15 David Wheaton outlasted Nicklas Kulti of Sweden, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4, 2-6, 8-6, in 4 hours 20 minutes, and No. 13 Emilio Sanchez of Spain got past Pat Cash of Australia, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 6-7 (11-9), 3-6, 6-1.

In women’s matches, No. 12 Anke Huber of Germany beat Michelle Jaggard of Australia, 6-0, 6-1, sixth-seeded Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia defeated Rene Alter of Canada, 6-3, 6-2, and eighth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain routed Stephanie Rehe, 6-1, 6-2.

McEnroe, showing flashes of the brilliance that won him seven Grand Slam titles, got into a dispute with the umpire over the use of the “Cyclops” device used to judge whether serves are long.

“When we walked out on court, we were told we working by the machine,” McEnroe said later.

But after two of his serves were called out verbally without a beep from “Cyclops,” he started arguing. He didn’t seem to get a whole lot of satisfaction.

“He sort of basically lied his way out of it,” McEnroe said.

After the dispute, McEnroe settled down for his second solid outing here since his ejection two years ago when he threw a temper tantrum on the same center court. He came back from a lapse in the second set to take the third, then recovered from a break down at 1-3 in the fourth set to win the last five games of the match.

“It’s good when you both play well,” he said. “There were a lot of winners instead of mistakes.”

While he was looking forward to his match against third-seeded Becker, he said he’s going into it realizing he’s the underdog.

“I have to play my best tennis and get a little lucky as well,” McEnroe said. “He’s got a huge serve. If I can return well, it’ll be more on even ground.”

He knows he can’t rely on emotion like he used to: “The well’s been pretty dry lately.”

Becker didn’t sound too eager to play McEnroe. Even though the New Yorker is ranked 28th these days and is a month shy of his 33rd birthday, Becker called him “the greatest player of all time.”

“I just have to go out and put his name aside,” Becker said. “He can still hit the ball.”

Cash, a friend and kindred spirit of McEnroe, gave the home fans a flash of his old fire and skill as well before losing to Sanchez.

But in the end, he self-destructed on anger and errors after four hours.

Cash, known for his McEnroe-like temperament, has been trying to come back from injury and has fallen to 106th in the rankings.

The fans were pumped, too.

“The crowd was great,” Sanchez said. “They tried to support him. I think they helped to keep him alive. Here, in these conditions, he’s very tough.”

Cash said, “I think the crowd got a buzz out of it. Everybody out there was supporting me. It’s a real thrill. I’m proud that I gutsed it out. That’s the way I play.”

An exhausted Wheaton figures his mental toughness was the difference in his five-setter against Kulti.

“The future doesn’t look too bright when you’re down match points, but I hadn’t written myself off,” he said. “It’s all kind of mental at that point. It all comes down to keeping your mind where it’s supposed to be. It was a see-saw match. It was just like a momentum swing.”