Cash Doesn’t Go as Far as He Used To : Wimbledon: McEnroe needs five sets to defeat rusty 1987 champion in second round.

Ghosts of Wimbledon past met on Centre Court here Thursday and in the gathering darkness managed to summon a little of yesteryear’s magic.

John McEnroe, who beat Pat Cash eight years ago in a three-set Wimbledon semifinal, won this time in a second-round match, 4 hours 9 minutes of sometimes brilliant, mostly uphill, but constantly entertaining tennis, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-7 (1-7), 6-3, 6-2.

As far as history goes--and it goes a long way around here--McEnroe-Cash assumed a degree of importance that it probably wouldn’t have had elsewhere. But here was 33-year-old McEnroe, who last won a Wimbledon title eight years ago, crossing rackets and trading volleys with 1987 champion Cash, only 27, but all the way down to No. 198 in the rankings and all but retired for the last two years.

Still, McEnroe wasn’t about to knock the quality of his opponent or overvalue the worth of a second-round victory.

“If I’m in the final, then it’s more important, the second round is a lot different,” McEnroe said. “But I’m very proud of it. It’s a great win for me.”

Cash quickly realized what the moment meant.

“It might have been my last Wimbledon and it could be his, too,” he said. “He’s the greatest player who ever walked on the tennis court, in my opinion. The greatest talent, greatest player . . . but it still (tees) me off to lose to him.”

He very nearly didn’t. Cash dominated both tiebreakers and led McEnroe, two sets to one, in the fourth set, which began with McEnroe reeling.

“He had me on the ropes,” McEnroe said. “I managed to climb off the ropes and get my second wind.”

McEnroe fought back to even the match and force a fifth set, where he survived a lone shaky moment.

That occurred in the second game, when Cash held four break points and missed them all. McEnroe gave himself the lead when he broke Cash for 3-2, helped by a key double-fault and a rocketed forehand service return at break point.

McEnroe broke again in the sixth game for 5-2. Minutes later, at 7:36 p.m., it was over.

McEnroe won four consecutive points on his serve, embraced Cash at the net and raised both hands in triumph.

As the sellout crowd 13,107 stood in unison, McEnroe acknowledged the cheers while Cash tore off his black-and-white checked headband and threw it into his racket bag in disgust.

Flashbulbs popped from all sections of the stands as Cash and McEnroe walked off the court together.

“It was a very good standard of tennis, it was all great tennis,” Cash said. “If he plays to that standard, I think he’s going to go a long way.”

Cash was awarded wild-card entry into the tournament as a past champion because his ranking was too low to earn a direct admission. He has played only three other tournaments this year and is not sure he wants to commit full time to tennis.

“It’s a bit silly to say right now,” he said. “What can I say? Right now, it’s very frustrating. You just get a bit sick of being a good loser.”

McEnroe, who once made a record for charity with Cash, said he felt an edge over his friend because of Cash’s lack of match play. McEnroe gently urged Cash not to put down his racket.

“I hope that he continues playing,” McEnroe said. “I think he’s too good a player. He’s got a great personality for tennis (and) I do feel in a way he’s got a lot left.”

Boris Becker didn’t have a whole lot left in his bag of tricks for his second-round match with Martin Damm. In a match that ended in the fading light just a few minutes before 9 p.m., Becker finally subdued the 19-year-old Czech, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

It was decidedly easier for Jim Courier. The top-seeded player moved into the third round with another straight-set victory, this one a 6-4, 6-1, 6-4 decision over former USC player Byron Black. Andre Agassi had a slightly more difficult time in upending Eduardo Masso of Belgium but managed to post a 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, 6-3 victory and earn a third-round date with Derrick Rostagno.

Agassi was told Thursday he is being fined $1,500 for an audible obscenity during his first-round match with Andrei Chesnokov. Agassi said he would appeal.

David Wheaton needed four sets to beat Todd Martin, 6-3, 6-3, 6-7 (3-7), 6-3, a victory that placed him directly in McEnroe’s path in the third round.

When Martina Navratilova woke up Thursday morning, her Wednesday afternoon match still wasn’t over. Darkness had stopped her second-rounder with Kimberly Po at one set apiece.

“I was a wreck,” Navratilova said.

Maybe so, but it took only 21 minutes to pull herself together and close out Po, 6-2, 3-6, 6-0.

Navratilova will play Germany’s Barbara Rittner in the third round, and Steffi Graf will meet Mariaan De Swardt. Graf, who needed 47 minutes to win her first-round match, required 44 minutes to eliminate Marianne Werdel, 6-1, 6-1.

Jennifer Capriati passed Pam Shriver 21 times and churned out a 6-2, 6-4 decision to reach the third round. Zina Garrison and Gabriela Sabatini advanced, but eighth-seeded Conchita Martinez was upset by Natalia Zvereva, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.