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U.S. OPEN TENNIS
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Threats to Borg and Austin
NEW YORK, Wednesday:
(AAP-Reuter). — Tournament
favourites ' Bjorn Borg and Tracy
Austin face their . first serious
challenges today in quarterfinal
pairings in the $A562,000 U.S.
Open tennis championships at the
National Tennis Centre in Flushing
Meadow.
Borg, seeking to become the first
grand slam winner since Rod Laver won
the distinction for the second time in
1969, will face the always dangerous
Roscoe Tanner. Austin will face
teenage rival Pam Shriver, who is the
midst of a fine summer comeback.
Last year Tanner, who rockets the
ball at 225 kph, ended Borg's dream of
a grand slam (victories in the national
championships of France, Britain, the
US and Australia) in the Open quarter
finals.
The llth-seeded Tanner won the
1979 duel in four sets, 6-2,4-6,6-2,7-6.
But a major factor in the final result
was that the match was on a night
schedule. Bor£ doesn't like to play un
der the lights and Tanner's blazing
serves rendered the stoic Swede helpless
on numerous occasions.
This meeting will be a daytime en
counter and the heat, which has been
more than 110 degrees at the courtside
for the past four days, could play a
major role.
Borg, 24, believes that he'll have an
edge in the daylight.
"1 can see the ball better and it should
be a little easier than last year", he said.
He already owns five Wimbledon and
five French Open championships.
Tracy Austin has never lost to Pam
Shriver, beating her 18-year-old rival
nine times in the junior ranks and once
on the pro circuit.
Chris Lloyd, who lost the Open
final last year to Austin, is paired in a
quarterfinal meeting today against
Mima Jausovec, of Yugoslavia.
A night quarterfinal will pair 14th
seeded Wojtek Fibak, of Poland, and
unseeded Johan Kriek, of South Africa.
Fibak beat fourth-seeded Guillermo
Vilas, of Argentina, and Kriek stopped
Buster Mottram, of Britain, in four-set
fourth round matches.
Tomorrow's quarterfinal pairings in
the men's draw will match third-seeded
Jimmy Connors and unseeded Ameri
can rival Eliot Teltscher, and second
seeded John McEnroe and lOth-seeded
Ivan Lend), of Czechoslovakia.
In the women's quarterfinals tomor
row, Hana Mandlikova, of Czechoslo
vakia, ninth seed, faces unseeded
Barbara Hallquist, of California, and
eighth-seeded Andrea Jaeger, the 15
year-old from Illinois, meets 14th
seeded Ivanna Madruga, of Argentina.
Scores. — Page 26.
AP-AAP satellite picture John McEnroe, of the United States, serves during his match against Pascal Portes, of France, at the US Open tennis championships in New York on Tuesday. McEnroe won 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarter-finals. Help
AP-AAP satellite picture
John McEnroe, of the United States, serves during his match against Pascal Portes,
of France, at the US Open tennis championships in New York on Tuesday. McEnroe
won 6-2, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarter-finals.
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