Just call him the Marathon Man.
Playing what's believed to be the longest match in the U.S. Open since the advent of the tiebreak in 1970, Ivan Lendl outlasted Boris Becker 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-7 (4-7), 6-3, 6-4 Tuesday night in a marathon battle that lasted five hours, one minute.It was to be expected. It was that kind of day.
Three of the four men's fourth-round matches went five sets. The other - Wayne Ferreira's victory over Emilio Sanchez lasted four sets.
But Lendl is the leading practicioner of the long match. He plays a war of attrition, knowing that being the fittest player on the tour, he should win most matches.
In fact, Lendl warmed up early in this two-week hardcourt tournament by taking 4:23 to eliminate Jaime Yzaga of Peru in a first-round, five-set match. He followed that with two four-setters, practice sessions in Lendl's world.
Then, with a berth in the quarterfinals awaiting the winner, Lendl and Becker, two of the biggest hitters in the game, stood 78 feet apart and fired artillery shells at each other for half the night. And it all boiled down to just one or two points.
"It was just a question of the two men battling there for five hours and one had to lose and it happened to be me today," said Becker, the seventh seed in this, the year's final Grand Slam tournament. "On some days you are meant to win and some days meant to lose.
"I think it was a question of that."
For Lendl, it doesn't get any easier. His quarterfinal opponent will be Stefan Edberg, the defending champion and No. 2 seed.
Edberg had his own marathon Tuesday, outlasting No. 15 Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. And although the two are serve-and-volleyers, they took 4:19 to complete their day match.
In other men's fourth-round encounters Tuesday, No. 4 Michael Chang eliminated No. 14 MaliVai Washington 6-2, 2-6, 3-6, 6-3, 6-1 and Ferreira, the 12th seed from South Africa, ousted Sanchez of Spain 6-2, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.
Mary Joe Fernandez pulled off the biggest shocker on the skimpy women's schedule, upsetting fourth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini, the 1990 U.S. Open champion, 6-2, 1-6, 6-4. Fernandez, seeded seventh, will meet top-seeded and defending champion Monica Seles in the semifinals. Seles advanced with a 6-1, 6-2 drubbing of Canada's Patricia Hy.
Originally scheduled as a day match, the Lendl-Becker confrontation was moved to the night schedule. It almost outlasted the night.
"I'm going to make a prediction now and predict this match will never end," John McEnroe told television viewers. He almost was right.
Five hours of probing for a weakness, scrambling to save serve, firing aces, trying drop shots and going for passing shots just proved how even these two warriors are. When it was all over, Lendl had hit three more winners than Becker, 68 to 65.