Connors Advances to Round of 16; Navratilova, Evert Also Victorious

L.A. Times Archives

June 30, 1987 12 AM PT

Associated Press

WIMBLEDON, England — Jimmy Connors, contorting like his old self, battled his way into the fourth round and helped keep alive the hopes of American men at the All England tennis championships Monday.

He was joined by Australia’s Peter Doohan, conqueror of defending champion Boris Becker, and three young Swedes, led by crew cut Mikael Pernfors, a former All-American from the University of Georgia. Pernfors came from two sets down to eliminate tired, 10th-seeded Tim Mayotte, 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, 7-5, to end the long day.

“I’m like a pretzel out there,” Connors said after beating New Zealand’s Kelly Evernden, 6-1, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3, “twisting and turning and jumping, lunging and diving, doing whatever it takes to get the ball back in play.

“I don’t need to win Wimbledon, but I’d like to win it. I’m 34 and I’ve still got the opportunity to win it. That’s a pretty good feeling.”

Connors said Becker’s defeat does not affect him.

“I have to go and win the matches anyway,” he said. “You’ve got to perform to the best of your ability from the very beginning. There’s luck involved in winning any Grand Slam event, but here there’s got to be a little bit more luck as far as bounces going in your favor. Because of the grass courts there’s even more luck involved.”

One other seeded player fell in the men’s singles, Sweden’s Anders Jarryd easily downing No. 5 Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 6-3, 6-3.

That left Connors and South African expatriate Johan Kriek as the only American men left. Kriek plays top-seeded Ivan Lendl today.

Also posting third-round victories were third-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden, No. 11 Pat Cash of Australia, No. 14 Emilio Sanchez of Spain, Guy Forget of France and Slobodan Zivojinovich of Yugoslavia.

Defending titlist Martina Navratilova and three-time Wimbledon winner Chris Evert led nine women into the fourth round, Navratilova zipping past Peanut Harper, 6-2, 6-2, and Evert stopping Japan’s Kyoko Okamoto, 7-5, 6-0.

Yet another seeded player was ousted from the women’s ranks, South Africa’s Rosalyn Fairbank eliminating No. 9 Bettina Bunge of West Germany, 7-6, 6-4.

Two other American women advanced to the fourth round--No. 5 Pam Shriver and Mary Joe Fernandez--along with No. 8 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany, No. 11 Catarina Lindqvist of Sweden, Gigi Fernandez of Puerto Rico and Australia’s Dianne Balestrat.

Navratilova didn’t need lobs to bounce Harper from the title chase. The world’s top-ranked woman, seeking a record sixth straight Wimbledon title and her eighth overall, served seven aces, including one on match point, and had to hit a second serve only three times in the entire match.

“You definitely go into a higher gear in the second week,” she said. “Now the matches will come very quickly. Physically, I know everything will hold up. From here on, it is a mental thing.”

Evert said her first-set problems definitely are mental. In her last two victories, she has won by identical 7-5, 6-0 scores.

“Basically I have to figure out why I’m struggling in the first set and then winning the second set easily,” Evert said. “I think I’ve always been a slow starter, but this isn’t the type of tournament where you want to start out slowly, and I have in my last two matches.

“Once I get going, I’m fine. But in the later rounds, when I play tougher opponents, that’s not really going to be good enough.”