16
Wednesday, June 22, 1988 / University Daily Kansas
McEnroe wins Wimbledon crowd, match
The Associated Press
WIMBLEDON, England — John McEnoe made a triumph return to Wimbledon yesterday by winning the cheers of the crowd and his first match in three years on the famed grass courts.
Showing flashes of the form that made him a three-time champion here. McEnroe beat Horst Skoff of Austria 6-1, 7-5, 6-1 before an overflow crowd at the All England Club.
McEnroe, 29, received an enthusiastic ovation as he walked onto Court 1 before the opening-round match and again as he left the court after his victory. Each time, he acknowledges the cheers with a wave of his hand.
"It was nice," McEnroe said of the reception for his first appearance at Wimbledon since his 1985 quarterfinal loss to Australian Kevin Curren. "Hopefully, it will get better the longer I stay around."
Before he stepped away from Wimbledon for two summers, McEnroe treated the crowds here to some classic turrents, earning nicknames such as "MacBrat" and "Mac the Mouth" from the Fleet Street tabloids.
In his comeback, McEnroe, the No. 8 seed, has vowed to keep his temper under control. He kept that promise against Skoff, who was coming off a clay-court tournament title in Greece.
He kept quiet throughout the match and only once showed anger by swatting the net with his racket after netting an easy volley to give Skoff a break point in the second set.
"It's a whole new ballgame now," said McEnroe, who is trying to regain the top ranking he held from 1981-85. "It's almost like starting over."
The second day of the tournament also featured easy first-round victories by the top two women's seeds, Steffi Graf and eight-time champion Martina Navratilova. Graf's victory was noteworthy because she posted her second straight Grand Slam shutout. Navratilova's victory also was significant because it was her 42nd straight match victory at Wimbledon, a post-war record.
No. 4 seed Chris Evert, No. 5 Gabrielle Sabati and No. 9 Hana Mandlikova also won in straight sets, but No. 3 Pam Shriver struggled before defeating South African Dinky
Van Rensburg in three sets.
The women's draw did lose a seed, with No. 11 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany withdrawing because of a knee injury.
No. 14 Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union was eliminated by Udo Roglewski of West Germany 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, but all other men's seeds were victorious. Among those advancing to the second round were No. 2 Mats Wilander, No. 5 Jimmy Connors, No. 9 Miloslav Mecir, No. 12 Jonas Svensson and No. 16 Slobodan Ziovijovic.
Evert and Connors are both playing in their 17th straight Wimbledon. They are the oldest players in the men's and women's draws, but they looked strong in their opening rounds. Evert beat Alexia Dechume of France 6-1, 6-2, and Connors beat U.S. player Leif Shiras 3-7, 6-1, 6-1.
Skoff won three straight games to take a 5-4 lead in the second set against McErooe, but the U.S. player broke back in the 11th game on a backhand pass and held serve to close out the set. McEroee then easily won the final set, breaking Skoff three times.
20 minutes to practice, so it would have been embarrassing to lose," MeEnroe said.
"I knew he had just come from a clay-court tournament and only had
Skiff occasionally clowned around, making unusual service motions, prancing on his toes and bowing to the crowd. The fans were amused, but McEnroe was not.
"Once I won the second set, he started doing these funny serves and it was like a joke," he said. "It's aggravating to deal with, but it's a lot easier when you've just won in three straight sets."
Navratilova, seeking a record ninth women's singles title and seventh in a row, needed only 49 minutes to beat Sabrina Goles of Yugoslavia 6-1, 6-2 on Centre Court.
On Court 1, Graf took three fewer minutes to defeat U.S. player Hu Na 6-0, 6-0. In her last Grand Slam match, the 19-year-old West German defeated Natalia Zvereva of the Soviet Union in the French Open final.
Navratilova seemed distracted at times against Goles, but she said she wasn't looking ahead to Graf or any other opponent.
"I can only play one match at a time," she said.
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