Lendl Takes His Time Lining Up for Connors : U.S. Open: He needs 4 1/2 hours to finish off Yzaga, 6-7 (7-2), 6-1, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3.

Ivan Lendl offered, then took back, the best 40th birthday present Jimmy Connors could have wanted at the U.S. Open.

Nothing would have pleased Connors more than taking the stadium court Wednesday night against Jaime Oncins of Brazil after a first-round loss by Lendl, seeded to meet the winner in the second round.

Lendl did his best, or worst, to fulfill that birthday wish by playing nearly 4 1/2 hours against another Jaime Yzaga of Peru before winning, 6-7 (7-2), 6-1, 7-5, 4-6, 6-3, at New York.

Lendl stretched out the agony, failing on four match points in the last two games, until he clinched the match with his 17th ace.

A loss by Lendl would have meant a seemingly easy path for Connors to at least the fourth round.

Connors, meanwhile, drew a larger crowd on the grandstand court as he practiced during Lendl’s match. The scoreboard sign was lighted up with “Happy Birthday, Jimmy,” and fans serenaded him with a few verses of “Happy Birthday.”

One fan yelled out “not bad for an old man” after a particularly good crosscourt backhand, and Connors jokingly clutched his back as if he were feeling his age.

A year ago, on his dramatic surge to the semifinals, fans bowed to him during each of his matches in the stadium.

“I couldn’t think of a better place to have a 40th birthday than right here,” Connors said. “I’ve been playing here 22 years.”

Stefan Edberg wouldn’t do it. Michael Chang, doubtful. Lendl, not likely. John McEnroe, no way. Boris Becker, forget it. Monica Seles just giggled. Martina Navratilova, well, maybe.

Hardly anyone could imagine still bashing balls and running down shots like Connors with the same vigor as pros half, almost one-third, his age.

Edberg, all of 26, shuddered at the thought of another 14 years on the nonstop tour after he began defense of his U.S. Open title Wednesday with a 7-5, 7-5, 6-2 victory over Luiz Mattar.

“No, I don’t think I will be playing at that stage,” Edberg said. “He is very exceptional. He has been lucky, hasn’t had too many injuries. He has a very light body, and he has been able to keep going, having the motivation. I don’t think I can. It would be too tough.”

Top-seeded Seles, the women’s defending champion, reached the third round by beating Lisa Raymond, 7-5, 6-0, then smiled about the notion of playing to 40, a lifetime away.

“It’s incredible,” she gushed. “I mean, I am still 18, but to think at age 40 you might play, that is unbelievable.

“But then again, when I don’t play, when I am hurt, I miss it so much. It is definitely going to be hard to put the racket down. I will have to find something. Like Chris (Evert), having the baby helped a lot stopping tennis. I am sure Martina will play well into her 40s.”

Chang, 20 years old and already a pro for five years, couldn’t imagine sticking around another 20 years.

“I honestly feel that it would be difficult,” said Chang, seeded fourth, who beat Ellis Ferreira, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-1). “When Jimmy was 20, the game was not quite as intense. I don’t think they played as many tournaments back then. I think now players put more demands on their bodies and minds.

“I don’t think being in the 40s is all that old. You make it sound like, 40 and you can’t do anything anymore. Like you can’t get out of bed. He’s out there, but he’s not out there for the ranking. He knows what his body can take.”

Lendl, 32, already is on the decline and growing weary of the grind as his family expands with three daughters in the past two years.

McEnroe, 33, and also the father of three, is gone from touring fulltime after this year. Becker, 24, looks and sounds older than Connors, as if the German’s retirement were just around the corner.

Only Navratilova, a month shy of 36, still has that youthful enthusiasm and love of the game that could keep her a force for four more years.

“He feels like he has got nothing to lose now,” Edberg said of Connors. “Every match he wins, that is big. He just goes out there and enjoys himself.”

Connors’ match was his 114th at the Open, one more than Chris Evert played in her 19 years. Connors, a five-time Open champion, is the only player to win it on three different surfaces--grass, clay and hard courts.

“It is a different thing for him to go out there than me,” Edberg said. “I have more pressure because people expect me to win, and he has to have the crowd behind him.”

Some players think Connors got preferential treatment last year at the Open, being assigned the featured night matches instead of playing in the heat of the afternoon. This year, he’s starting off the same way, but Edberg, for one, doesn’t mind.

“I think he deserves it,” Edberg said. “He has been around long enough. Obviously, they are looking to put him at the best time, like playing tonight. He is always going to have a special care, and that is quite normal. It would happen anywhere, I think, and especially here.”

In other matches, fourth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini reached the third round 6-0, 6-4 over Julie Halard, and seventh-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez downed 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 over Natalia Medvedeva, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1.