Conference turris::scandia

402.0. "Tennis: Edberg's second Wimbledon win" by CHARLT::SAVAGE () Mon Jul 09 1990 12:05

    From: [email protected] (FREDERICK WATERMAN, UPI Sports Writer)
    Newsgroups: clari.news.lifestyle,clari.news.europe,clari.news.urgent
    Subject: Edberg wins second Wimbledon crown
    Keywords: international, sport trends, lifestyle
    Date: 8 Jul 90 19:12:03 GMT
    ACategory: international
    Slugword: wimble
 
    	WIMBLEDON, England (UPI) -- Stefan Edberg squandered a two-set
    advantage,  then regained his nerve and reclaimed the Wimbledon crown
    from Boris Becker Sunday with a 6-2, 6-2, 3-6, 3-6, 6-4 triumph.  The
    Swede, who also beat the West German for his 1988 title, denied Becker
    a fourth championship at The All England Club. Not since 1927 had a
    Wimbledon finalist recovered from a two-set deficit to win.

    	Edberg and Becker, Wimbledon finalists for the third straight year,
    agreed that their different roads to the final proved decisive.

    	Becker, who played poorly in Sunday's first two sets and faltered
    in the fifth, had survived six tough opponents. The No. 2 seed was
    forced to play his best Friday against unseeded semifinalist Goran
    Ivanisevic.	"When I got up in the morning, I felt exhausted mentally
    and physically," Becker said. "The last six matches paid their toll a
    little bit. I had to go to the border every time. That's why it was
    difficult at the start."

    	Edberg, the No. 3 seed, won his previous three matches in straight
    sets.  "I haven't been tired at all," he said. "I've been feeling fresh
    for every match."

    	Only twice in their 24 matches had Becker and Edberg played a fifth
    set. At the 1989 French Open, Edberg also led by two sets, let Becker
    even the match but held on to win the fifth. The memory helped in the
    final hour Sunday.	"I started to think a little bit, I thought about
    the (French Open) match," said Edberg, whose confidence has always been
    brittle. "I got my strength and my fighting spirit back."