Lloyd Says Strings Can Tie Up Title This Time : TeamTennis: Return of Connors and addition of Cunningham could make the difference.

John Lloyd feels the Los Angeles Strings have a good chance to win the World TeamTennis championship this season.

The Strings’ player-coach has the same nucleus as last year, when a rookie named Jimmy Connors led the team to the championship game, only to lose to the Atlanta Thunder with Martina Navratilova.

“I think our team is definitely as strong as last year, if not better,” said Lloyd, whose team opens its 1992 season at 7 tonight in the Forum against the San Antonio Racquets. “I think the other teams are stronger though, especially among the women.”

To help in that area, Lloyd will turn to the only new member of the four-player team: Carrie Cunningham.

The Strings added Cunningham, 20, when Robin White decided she wanted to devote her time to her career on the regular tour, Lloyd said.

“We were interested in Carrie a while back,” Lloyd said. “I watched her play a lot of singles matches. She’s a good competitor and she’s got a great attitude.”

Cunningham, who made it to the third rounds of the 1992 Lipton, the ’91 Australian and ’91 French opens, will be playing women’s singles for the Strings tonight.

In 1988, she was the USTA’s top ranked girl in the 18-and-younger class. In 1987, World Tennis magazine named her its outstanding female junior.

Cunningham, of Livonia, Mich., said she was approached by a few other teams in the league, but none of those offers seemed right.

“I don’t think I would have said yes to any other team,” she said. “But I just think L.A. is the ideal place for me. I like it out here. I like the team members. I like Mary Lou (Daniels).

“Obviously, Jimmy is someone that I’ve idolized.”

Connors, 39, will be playing his second season with the Strings. Last year he was the league’s second-ranked player in men’s singles.

The Strings’ first test this year will be a tough one. San Antonio had the league’s best record, 13-1, during the regular season last year, but Los Angeles knocked it out of the playoffs with a 25-24 victory in the divisional finals.

The Racquets feature two players of local interest. Ginger Helgeson, who was the fifth-ranked female in the league and was female rookie of the year while playing for Charlotte in 1991, played at Pepperdine. Trevor Kronemann was a four-time All-American at UC Irvine.