That Bloke From Doohan Under Wins Again

By Scott Ostler

June 30, 1987 12 AM PT

WIMBLEDON, England — When Peter Pan--or Peter Doohan, or whatever his name is--beat Boris Becker in the upset of our times last Friday, Peter’s agent started talking about exploring commercial possibilities for his client.

Sure, hey, Peter should be endorsing things. But what? Minute Rice? Two-day deodorant pads? Sand castles? Disappearing ink?

Peter Flash-in-the-Pan didn’t figure to be around long. In fact, many tennis insiders were saying he should have retired Friday evening, thus keeping alive forever his mystique and reputation, not to mention his untapped commercial potential.

Ah, but Peter flashed in the pan again Monday. Doohan (pronounced Doon), from Australia, won another match at Wimbledon, and now he’s one of the last 16 survivors. This man is a southbound snowball. He beat the No. 166-ranked player in the world, Leif Shiras, in a zippy little 4-hour 26-minute bakeoff in the 80-degree heat.

Doohan did it in dramatic comeback fashion: 6-7, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 12-10.

Who would have thought the world’s greatest tennis tournament would open its doors for the climactic second week and the fans would stampede for seats to see a Doohan-Shiras showdown?

A few days ago, life was simple. Last Friday, I knew who was going to win this tennis tournament. The only brain power required the rest of the fortnight would involve deciding, when the 4 o’clock tea bell tinkled, whether to go for the scones or the liver pate .

Now, I’m scrambling to find a bookie to lay a few quid, bob, rubles, bobbles, whatever, on Alexander Volkov.

Not that Volkov looks particularly menacing, but I like his world ranking--No. 503.

Look, if No. 70 can beat No. 1, and then No. 166 can push No. 70 to the limit, you have to like the long-shot chances of Volkov, a Soviet player, who also advanced to the final 16 Monday.

And what are the odds on a Doohan-Volkov Titanic finale next Sunday?

Regardless of what happens, Doohan’s place in history is secure.

As BBC announcer Dan Maskell said grandly during Doohan’s Monday match: “The man who beat Boris Becker! He’ll be known as that, I should think, forever.”

At least.

It’s not quite as poetic as “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” but it has a ring.

And who is to say the legend of Peter Doohan will stop here? Consider the key point in Monday’s match:

Doohan loses the first two sets and is up, 4-3, in the third. Shiras is serving at deuce. Forced back to the baseline, Doohan hits an exaggerated skylob, a prayer. A freak gust of wind catches the ball, it drops on the net cord and plinks onto Shiras’ side, a winner.

Shiras loses the game and his serve on the next point when he skulls a ridiculously easy overhand.

“It definitely shook me up a bit,” said Shiras, a Princeton graduate. “I almost started thinking, ‘Geez, is this guy destined to win, or what?’ ”

Apparently so, at least this match. It took him 64 games to do it, but Doohan did it. He broke serve at 10-10 in the fifth set, forcing two straight wide backhand volleys, and then held his serve with a barrage of well-placed volleys of his own.

If the fans were clamoring to see the underdog wonder from Down Under, the Wimbledon officials were less captivated by the matchup. They relegated this contest to Court 14, an outside court with a carnival atmosphere compared to the solemn atmosphere of Centre Court.

Doohan and Shiras had to make do with only four ballboys, instead of the six assigned to big matches. But for the fans, this was definitely the match to see.

No matter that Doohan’s opponent was a man whose claim to fame was that he once dated Grace Jones and once beat Ivan Lendl, two years ago on grass.

Never mind that it wasn’t a classic battle. At one point, there were 16 straight games with no service break.

“At the end, we were both sort of in the 15th round,” Shiras said. “We were slugging it out. He just got a few more good blows in. As it got later and later, he got better and better.

“He was serving well. His serve isn’t huge, but he places it so well, and backs it up so well. He’s such a great grass-court player. He relies on his volley and speed around the net.”

In years past, that wasn’t enough. In four previous trips to Wimbledon, Doohan was 0 for 4. Zilch City. This sudden change in routine has been somewhat upsetting to him. Doohan hasn’t had a good night’s sleep since before he became famous, and this is not good for a man nicknamed Bear because of his love of sleep.

When Doohan met the press Monday night, four hours after his win and after a mixed-doubles match, he looked positively frazzled. His eyes were bloodshot and vacant. This child-of-destiny stuff can be hard work.

“The Becker win was still on my mind today,” he said, solemnly. “I wanted to put it out of my mind for today’s match, but it just wasn’t possible.”

What about destiny?

“I don’t know about that,” Doohan said. “I’ll just take a win any way I can get it. I don’t know about destiny or anything like that.”

He does know about working the rules, however, according to Shiras.

“He’s definitely an expert at gamesmanship,” Shiras said. “When you’re winning, he serves too quick. For a stretch he was quick-serving me, then next set he’d be taking a lot of time. It was effective. He’s really pushing the limits of the rules. And he complains about every call. He’s done that all his career.”

Doohan was just too exhausted to defend himself against the charges.

“He’s entitled to his opinion,” Doohan said without much emotion.

Doohan swears he is enjoying his time in the spotlight, but you had to take his word for that. He looked like the loser of a 10-day dance marathon.

Doohan is living in a strange, new world. He was fixing himself a snack in the kitchen of his YMCA room Friday night when he thought he heard his mother’s voice. He rushed to the television and there was his mother, being interviewed live from Australia.

When he phoned his parents Saturday: “They described it (the reaction in his home country) as if an earthquake had gone through Australia.”

By losing, Doohan could have taken all the pressure off himself. Instead, he won, aided by a freak gust of wind, and maybe by destiny, and the legend grows.

Today, he will be back on No. 1 Court, where if you’re real quiet, you can still hear the ghost of Boris Becker kicking himself in the fanny for losing to a tall, skinny Australian journeyman.

Doohan will face Slobodan (Bobo) Zivojinovic. Bobo vs. Bear. Three falls out of five, loser leaves town. It can’t get any stranger.