Sickness, age and Andre Agassi combined to defeat the inexhaustible Jimmy Connors at the U.S. Open Thursday. The 37-year-old came back from a one-set down, endured a wave of illness and almost made up a 1-5 deficit in the fifth set before he finally succumbed to Agassi in the quarterfinals at the National Tennis Center.
Connors quickly lost the first set to 19-year-old, sixth-seeded Agassi, had to be treated at courtside for dizziness and nausea in the second, and at one point told his wife in the stands, "I'm not going to make it through this match." But the five-time Open champion and the oldest player in the tournament proceeded to play tennis as if losing was a mortal illness, only falling after a 6-1, 4-6, 0-6, 6-3, 6-4 struggle."He hasn't done what he's done in his career for nothing," Agassi said. "He could be in a wheelchair and you still wouldn't have the match won."
Agassi's next opponent will be top-ranked and top-seeded Ivan Lendl, who reached his eighth consecutive Open semifinal by defeating No. 9 Tim Mayotte in a breezy 1 hour 49 minutes, 6-4, 6-0, 6-1. It was Mayotte's 14th loss to Lendl, whom he's never beaten, and he was clearly frustrated, the normally correct player cited for an audible obscenity.
Mayotte never held a break point against Lendl in the first two sets, and let four opportunities get away in the third. His serve was broken seven times as Lendl struck 31 winners and made only 12 unforced errors. Lendl treated the match with a shrug afterwards. "Don't get me wrong," he said. "I didn't play badly or anything."
Lendl has won 33 of 34 Open matches since 1984, his only loss coming to Mats Wilander in last year's final. Agassi is 0-5 against him, and Saturday's meeting will be a rematch of their '88 semifinal, when the teenager let a one-set lead get away. Second-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany will play No. 14 Aaron Krickstein in the other semifinal.
They will have trouble matching the drama provided by Connors, who rose time and again from his chair, pale, shaking and sometimes with panic in his eyes. Connors was treated for lower body cramps after his third-round match last week, and had given an incredible performance in defeating third-seeded Stefan Edberg in straight sets to reach the quarterfinals. His physical problems were perhaps a result of those matches and rapid weight loss to get ready for this tournament, his first in more than a month.
"I was there but I wasn't there," he said. "I was on automatic pilot. I ran the gamut of nausea."
But this was a match Connors wanted badly, for he was defeated by Agassi at this juncture of the tournament last year in straight sets, and was outraged when Agassi remarked afterward, "I didn't think Jimmy had that much in him."
This afternoon Agassi voiced an entirely different view, calling his statement last year "naive." It was a kind of respect learned as Connors swept seven games through the end of the second set and start of the third-and learned again when Agassi nearly could not finish off Connors in the fifth despite a 5-1 lead.
Agassi said he thought: "If he can come back like that and close you out, then you can only shake his hand."
That Agassi won this match at all was a potentially significant feat for a player last year called the future of American tennis, but with little success this season to support the tag. He had an 0-5 record in five-set matches before this afternoon, which has given him a reputation for quitting. After rising to No. 3 in 1988, he has made only one final this season and been criticized for erratic play and behavior.
Connors, seeded 13th, very nearly capitalized on Agassi's penchant for giving away matches. Afterward he said flatly, "He was gagging. I started too late to give him the chance (to choke). I just wish it could have been a little closer. Then it might have been a different story."
It almost was. Trailing by 1-5 in the fifth, Connors won the next three games, Agassi taking just two points as the Stadium Court crowd roared. In the eighth game Connors broke Agassi over his knee. He won the first point with a screaming backhand smash, and the shaken 19-year-old double faulted and then put an easy forehand in the net. Agassi saved a break point with a debatable second-serve ace, and then lost a long baseline rally for 5-3.
Connors held at love for 5-4 to pandemonium, crashing in behind his serves and collecting each point with the signature pump of fist and leg. Then Agassi served again. A service winner to Connors's forehand made it 30-15, and Connors's diving backhand volley just wide made it double match point. Connors killed the first by intimidiation, creeping to the net and forcing Agassi to hit a backhand pass wide. But on the second match point, Agassi put in a twisting backhand drop shot, and the weary Connors overran it, pushing it deep.
Connors simply was not present for the first set. Agassi broke serve in the first game, as Connors double-faulted at 15-40. But the final game was an indication of what was to come, as Connors saved six set points before Agassi broke to close it out.
Connors jumped into the match when he broke serve in the first game of the second set, and took permanent control of the set when he broke Agassi again in Game 5.
At that point Connors went to his chair for the changeover, called for a trainer, and put his head between his knees. As illness is not considered an injury under Grand Prix rules, he was given a code violation for delay of game when he did not take the court immediately. Once he did return, Agassi broke quickly, Connors mis-hitting a backhand wide, and then another one deep. At 30-30 Connors turned to his wife, Patti, and said he thought he was through.