Fire and Ice at Wimbledon

By B.J. Phillips

Hot Mac and cool Chris prevail after a furious fortnight

In all of sport, there is no contest as self-consciously august as Wimbledon. Like a dowager duchess, Wimbledon walks hand in hand with a statelier past, revering its history, requiring homage to its traditions, never questioning its prerogatives. But in the 104th year of "The Championships upon the lawns of The All England Club," the unthinkable finally happened: Wimbledon came under attack. Players criticized the conduct of the tournament, fans erupted into a near riot, and a government committee challenged the privileges of the All England Club. The grande dame of tennis was, in short, told that she had become a bit tatty and changes would have to be made.

In the end, the most stunning change of all was made on Centre Court. For the first time in half a decade, Bjorn Borg was beaten at Wimbledon, and a new champion, John McEnroe, was crowned. McEnroe, whose tantrums angered the crowds and, at one point, moved officials to threaten his expulsion from the tournament, beat Borg, 4-6, 7-6, 7-6, 6-4, in a tense duel that saw two sets determined by tie breakers. The only link to the past left intact was the dominance of Chris Evert Lloyd. She won her third Wimbledon title by unnerving and outplaying Hana Mandlikova, the most gifted young player in a generation, 6-2, 6-2.

Before the U.S. sweep, Wimbledon was sent reeling by press and government inquiries into British tennis. Those investigations criticized the cozy relationship between the private All England Club, which runs the Wimbledon championships, and the British Lawn Tennis Association, to which it is responsible. Despite tournament revenues of $5 million and a requirement that the All England Club help support national tennis programs, only $62,000 trickled down to train aspiring players in 1980. Even more galling, the 375 memberships in the blueblooded club, which cost only $17.50 in annual dues, were said to be worth the equivalent of $200,000 in subsidies and perks over a member's lifetime. One side benefit: a generous allotment of Centre Court tickets that could be scalped for up to $1,200 apiece before the finals. Summed up London Observer Columnist Adam Raphael: "There is no reason why the members of the All England Club should live off the backs of English tennis players."

If Wimbledon officials were miffed by such ungentlemanly delving into their financial arrangements, they were outraged by the even more ungentlemanly conduct of McEnroe. The volatile lefthander from Douglaston, N.Y., brought down the wrath of fans and officialdom almost as soon as he stepped on court for his opening day match. A few unconsidered (and unprintable) words later, McEnroe was penalized two points and $1,500 for berating the umpire and breaking his racquet. The early rounds produced a stunning series of upsets--seven seeded stars fell in the first round alone--and also brought the sad spectacle of McEnroe disputing calls (and piling up more fines) in matches he had no chance of losing. In his semifinal match against Australia's Rod Frawley, he picked up another penalty point, screaming, "I always get robbed because of the umpires in this place." That proved too much for Lady Diana Spencer, who left the royal box halfway through the long and argument-marred match. The display cost him an additional $10,000 fine.

Though McEnroe's behavior was indefensible, his complaint was not. Tennis officiating is a fine art, requiring split-second judgments on tennis balls traveling 150 m.p.h., but at Wimbledon it is done by amateurs who only last year were required to have their eyesight checked. Players whose paychecks ride on such hairbreadth decisions find it difficult to maintain a stiff upper lip when bad calls rob them of crucial points. Tim Mayotte, 20, a surprise quarter-finalist, explains, "Yes, McEnroe is ridiculous. But umpires are making mistakes too. Ask a question, and the umpire will just turn away and say, 'Play on.' You can understand the frustration."

As usual, Borg confined his pyrotechnics to shotmaking, not shouting. He needed all his guile and gifts to reach the finals in a five-set match against Jimmy Connors. Turning back the clock to his glory days, Connors, 28, played with a fury that shook Centre Court. He pounded Borg with supersonic ground strokes, winning the first set 6-0 and the second 6-4. Borg rallied to take the next two sets. Then, in the deciding set, both men lifted their games to the sublime. In the third game, Borg had four chances to break Connors' serve; each time Connors fought him off. The next game, Connors had two break points on Borg, and the Swede served two aces to win. Down 0-40 in the next game, Connors ripped off five straight points to win again. Borg finally prevailed, 6-4, and afterward declared the match "one of my greatest comebacks."

But Borg's charmed life at Wimbledon --41 consecutive match victories, five titles--finally came to an end against McEnroe. Last year the two had fought a titanic five-set match; this year the memory of that peerless encounter crackled above Centre Court. Both men played brilliantly, McEnroe carving the air with the most feared array of slice and spin serves in tennis, Borg retaliating with withering passing shots and precision volleys. Borg and McEnroe are so much in a class by themselves, so perfectly matched in skills and wills that when the match concluded, each had won an equal number of games, 22. But McEnroe won the two tie breakers, abrupt margins of victory in an otherwise timeless struggle. McEnroe capitalized on the server's advantage in these sudden-death situations, booming the ball across to handcuff Borg, then rushing to the net to volley for winners. His tallies in those crucial mini-matches were 7-1 and 7-4. For the beleaguered McEnroe, the victory was vindication. He even offered the officials at the All England Club an olive branch --in perfect British style: "I'm going to have a cup of tea with them later."

Among the women, this was supposed to be the year that youth was served at Wimbledon, as vouchsafed by the departure from competition of Billie Jean King, holder of 20 Wimbledon titles, whose action was limited to TV commentary. The new wave, led by Mandlikova, 19, Tracy Austin, 18, and Andrea Jaeger, 16, was touted to take over from the stars of the '70s. As if to underscore the point, the All England Club seeded Mandlikova No. 2 (despite a No. 5 rating on the Women's Tennis Association computer listings), Austin No. 3 (despite her having played only three tournaments in 1981 because of a sciatic nerve injury) and Jaeger No. 5 (despite her spending most of her time going to high school). Evert Lloyd was ranked first, but Martina Navratilova, 24, was dropped to No. 4 and was vocal about her bruised feelings. So was the WTA, which lodged an official protest over the seedings. Said WTA Vice President Diane Desfor: "There are definitely two sides to this and we are right."

Compared with the fireworks on the men's side, the women's competition proceeded placidly. The only brouhaha came from spectators who, after standing in line all night for tickets, were so incensed by the cancellation of a women's doubles match that they cursed, booed and threw cushions onto the court. There were two emotional matches, however. Pam Shriver, making a comeback at 18 after a shoulder injury, defeated Austin for the first time in seven years, 7-5, 6-4. Even more dramatic was the showdown between Czech Star Mandlikova and Czech Defector Navratilova. Mandlikova played inspired tennis to beat the woman she once served as ball girl, 7-5,4-6,6-1.

Evert Lloyd, meanwhile, sailed serene, never losing a set. She first came to Wimbledon ten years ago, and in that long span she has never failed to reach the semifinals. Even more remarkable, she has played in the finals seven times. It is a measure of her pre-eminence that she considered a mere two Wimbledon titles a blot on her career, and she was determined to win her third. "I have been thinking about Wimbledon all year," she said. "Every match I played, every time I practiced, I said to myself, 'This is what I'm going to use for Wimbledon.' "

She dispatched Shriver in the semifinals and needed only 60 minutes to whip Mandlikova in the finals. Like Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Mandlikova is a player of vast talent and athleticism who has trouble harnessing her gifts and keeping her concentration. When she is good, as she was against Navratilova, no one can stay on the court with her; when she is bad, as she was against Evert Lloyd, most of the top players can beat her.

Since bursting on the scene at 16, Evert Lloyd, now 26, has won five U.S. Open championships, three Wimbledons and, by any measure, dominated the sport. On clay, her preferred surface, she has had winning streaks of 125 and 64 matches. At various times in her career, she has been adored as a teen-age wonder, reviled as an unbeatable superstar and written off as a burnt-out case. Through it all, she has borne herself with grace and played impeccably. For the few moments that she stood on Centre Court, the championship salver held high overhead, Wimbledon was able to forget its problems. As well it should in the presence of a queen. --By BJ. Phillips. Reported by Ken Banta/Wimbledon

With reporting by Ken Banta

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