Wimbledon: Game, Set, Out!

Despite some surprises, the top seeds triumph

Was this Wimbledon, or something dreamed up by an OPEC entrepreneur? Not only was the price of strawberries and cream up sharply, from $1.20 to $1.65, but a glass of champagne cost $3.30, a dollar more than last year. To top it all off, an unseeded but well-endowed Californian named Linda Siegel, 18, momentarily popped out of her daring, halter-neck tennis dress in mid-stroke during a losing engagement with Billie Jean King. GAME, SET ... OUT! chortled a Fleet Street headline.

But in other ways, Wimbledon was as Wimbledon as ever. Banks of hydrangeas and geraniums were in dazzling bloom, and the usual profusion of red roses surrounded the members' enclosure at the All England Club. The tournament attracted record crowds, while the nation talked of virtually nothing else. True to form, the top seeds in the singles competition--Bjorn Borg and Martina Navratilova--moved relentlessly into the denouement of the fortnight-long pageant.

Borg, 23, the icily self-composed Swede, was aiming to become the first man in modern Wimbledon history to win four consecutive singles titles.* He made it into the finals with an amazingly easy win over Jimmy Connors, 26, the temperamental American who won the title in 1974. Their eagerly awaited match turned out to be a reprise of last year's championship rout. Once again, Borg triumphed in straight sets with the loss of only seven games, and once again he needed a short time to do it--106 min., three less than last year.

Connors left Wimbledon moments later, without showering, changing or talking to reporters. At the airport, he took a verbal swipe at newsmen--"You guys have all the answers"--while a male companion turned to photographers and offered to "bust your heads in." A London paper called Connors' getaway "an ungracious farewell," but Borg was more sympathetic: "I know how badly he wanted to win the tournament."

Borg also beat Tom Gorman, 33, an unseeded American, and India's Vijay Amritraj, 25, en route to the finals. There his opponent was Roscoe Tanner, 27, a hard-serving Tennessean seeded fifth. Tanner's appearance in the finals was not altogether popular, since his triumph in the semifinals came at the expense of the tournament's giant killer: Pat DuPre, 24, a lanky (6 ft. 2 1/2 in., 180 Ibs.) Belgian-born Alabaman who now lives in La Jolla, Calif. Ranked a lowly 28th in the U.S., DuPre tiptoed into the first round and ambushed fourth-seeded Vitas Gerulaitis, 24. "I consider myself basically a pretty horrendous grass player," DuPre said afterward. Four matches later, in one of the most uproarious quarter finals ever staged on hallowed Center Court, DuPre outgunned the handsome, acrobatic Italian, Adriano Panatta, 29, thereby silencing thousands of his screaming, chanting countrymen, who were unkindly dubbed the "Spaghetti Brigade" by the British press. The score was 3-6, 6-4, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3, and DuPre had to admit: "I seem to be picking up the game a little better."

DuPre was overmatched against Tanner in the semifinals, though, losing in straight sets. Tanner's bullet serve (clocked at 153 m.p.h.) and an improved all-round game gave his fellow Stanford graduate all he could handle. Rued DuPre: "You have almost no time to react."

Tanner had advanced to the semis with a four-set victory over Tim Gullikson, 27, of Onalaska, Wis., who had unceremoniously dumped American John McEnroe, 20, in the fourth round. The departure of the precocious and abrasive New Yorker was particularly well received by the British public and press, for McEnroe had richly earned the epithets "Superbrat" and "McTantrum" for his unruly behavior in a pre-Wimbledon tournament. "The most vain, ill-tempered, petulant loudmouth that the game of tennis has ever known," declared one newspaper.

In the women's finals, Navratilova, 22, handily retained her crown with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Chris Evert Lloyd, 24, her rival for world supremacy. It was a classic confrontation between the powerful serve and volleys of Navratilova and the masterly ground strokes of her opponent. The faster grass surface favored Navratilova, a Czech defector who now lives in Dallas, but the ease of her victory was surprising. A few weeks ago at East bourne, a traditional warmup for Wimbledon, Lloyd defeated Navratilova on grass after a titanic struggle, and she felt this gave her a psychological edge. But at Wimbledon, said Lloyd, her opponent "never let me into the match. She came in well off her sliced backhand, and got a high percentage of first serves in."

The women's competition was a testament to the seeding committee and to the relative lack of depth in the female ranks. The top eight made it to the quarterfinals, the top four to the semis, and the top two to the finals. The only moments of high drama were supplied by Billie Jean King, 35, who was seeking a record 20th Wimbledon title. In the quarterfinals she was matched against Tracy Austin, 16, who was not even born when King won her first Wimbledon title, in 1961. The older woman used her full repertory of crisp volleys, drop shots, cagey spins and moon balls. But time and again, the high school junior from Rolling Hills, Calif, sent sizzling passing shots down the lines, leaving King flat-footed and beaten, 6-4, 6-7, 6-2. King had to wait until the last day of the tournament to get her record, teaming with Navratilova to defeat Wendy Turnbull and Betty Stove in the finals of the women's doubles. By tragic coincidence, American Elizabeth Ryan, who had shared the record of 19 championships, collapsed on the Wimbledon grounds the day before and died later at the age of 88.

Going into the men's finals, Borg was a prohibitive favorite. His dramatic two-handed backhand and awesome forehand were supercharged with top spin and landing with uncanny accuracy. Tanner, a Wimbledon semifinalist in 1975 and 1976, was at the top of his game too. Once a slave to his serve, he has markedly upgraded the rest of his play. Said he: "I can take some pace off, just get in the court and rely more on my volley to win points."

He certainly seemed charged up on Saturday, but not quite enough. With more than 15,000 spectators jamming Center Court, Tanner played superbly before Borg won in five sets, 6-7, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. His gambling power game kept Borg off balance, and his thunderball serves bailed him out of numerous trouble spots. But Borg was as relentless as ever, and worked skillfully on Tanner's weakest point, his backhand. After Tanner won a tie breaker to capture the first set, Borg breezed through the second, breaking service twice. Tanner came right back to win the third set, and looked ready to pull a stunning upset.

The match turned in the fourth game of the fourth set, when Borg staved off four game points and broke service to take a 3-1 lead. Borg broke Tanner again in the opening game of the last set, then fought off three break points in the next game to hold service. The American made two more strong runs at Borg, in the eighth and tenth games, but he could not punch home winners when he needed them. Said Tanner: "He's tremendous but not invincible." When it was all over, the usually undemonstrative Borg dropped to his knees, raised his arms in the air and permitted himself a wide grin. Said he: "I'll be back for five." -

* The record is six, but before 1922 the previous year's winner had a bye to the finals.

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