The incomparable Ivan Lendl lost his touch Sunday. And West Germany`s Boris Becker, jumped in and won the $315,000 Volvo/Chicago tournament at the Pavilion.
The red-haired, 18-year-old Becker, the current Wimbledon champion, upset Lendl, the world`s No. 1-ranked player, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
Becker`s triumph snapped a string of 29 consecutive tournament victories by Lendl, who had not even lost a set in his last 14 matches before Becker broke him in a first-set tiebreaker.
”I haven`t played that well,” Becker said. ”Last week I lost in the first round.
”When I got out of bed this morning, I felt like I was 68. I wasn`t feeling that well because of my match with Jimmy Connors. But once I get on the court, I`m fine.”
Lendl`s game, which normally borders on the flawless, was cluttered with unforced errors.
Becker, who made a diving, sprawling save on the key point of his semifinal victory over Connors, continued his gutsy play, hitting the artificial rug and winning over the crowd of some 6,000 fans.
Becker won $50,000 as he gained his first indoor tournament title. It also was Becker`s first victory over Lendl after four losses.
Becker fell behind 3-1 in the tiebreaker and then won five straight points. He came into the tourney as a wild-card participant and was seeded third.
Lendl won the toss but elected to receive, probably hoping to build an early psychological advantage. He had broken his opponent`s service in the first or second game throughout the tournament.
But it was Becker who broke Lendl`s service in the eighth game. Lendl came right back to break Becker and the two went on to 6-6 and a tiebreaker.
Lendl took a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker before Becker took the next five points for a 6-3 lead. Lendl won the next two points, including one on the first ace of the match, but Becker took the next point and the set.
Becker and Lendl each held their service through the first six games of the second set. In the seventh game, Becker won the first point before Lendl scored an ace. The game went to 30-30 before Becker cashed in the final two points.
Becker held his service in the eighth game and then broke Lendl in the ninth and final game of the second set. He won the first three points, lost the next two and leaped with joy after an errant shot by Lendl gave him the victory.
Saturday, Becker used a running, somersaulting dive to spark his victory over Connors. The diving save turned a losing point into a winner at the critical moment in the match, and it helped him beat Connors, one of his boyhood idols.
”This was one of my most memorable matches ever,” said a physically and emotionally drained Becker after he survived a 2-hour 44-minute slugging match for a 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-4 victory. Becker`s great play at the baseline lifted him into the title match against Lendl.
Lendl beat unseeded Scott Davis 6-1, 7-6 (7-4) in a peculiar semifinal in which Lendl opened like a lion and finished like a lamb.
He totally dominated the start of the match and won the first 20 points he served. However, Lendl seemed to lose his concentration. His serve was broken. He lost service in the second set. And he finally closed out the tiebreaker by hitting a return of serve that the line judge ruled good to elicit loud boos from the pro-Davis crowd.
”I played about as good as I can in the first set,” said Lendl. ”And that`s dangerous, because when he broke me, it was the first time he`d given any kind of struggle.
