Tennis: Chang and Krajicek join the exodus

THE diminutive Michael Chang has dismantled most of the biggest and best, but the tall figure of an American compatriot, David Wheaton, continues to cast an ominous shadow across his court.

Wheaton recorded his fifth consecutive victory over Chang at the Australian Open here yesterday, reviving memories of the form which took him to a Wimbledon semi-final in 1991 and to the quarter-finals of the Australian and United States championships in 1990.

That early promise began to evaporate after Wheaton had defeated Chang in the final of the Grand Slam Cup in Munich in December, 1991, to collect dollars 2m ( pounds 1.32) for a week's play. Last year his world ranking slumped to No 47 from No 17.

After eliminating the sixth- seeded Chang yesterday, 6-4, 6-3,

1-6, 6-3, to advance to the third round, the 23-year-old Wheaton described the Munich jackpot as 'a minimal factor' in last year's decline. 'I got too much into the business side, took too much time off, tinkered with my serve and was changing coaches. Hopefully, I'll be better off for the experience.'

Chang's solitary win against Wheaton was achieved in their first match, at the 1990 Canadian Open. 'It's funny,' Chang said, 'because I know exactly what he's going to do when I go out on the court. It's a matter of me being able to adjust to that and for him to hit the shots that I want to hit. I had quite a few opportunities both in the first and second sets to break serve, and I wasn't able to convert. That's frustrating.'

At last year's US Open, on a rubberised concrete stadium court similar to the one here, Chang was defeated in five sets by Stefan Edberg in the semi-finals. The contest lasted five hours and 26 minutes, a Grand Slam record. Chang's participation here this week comprised matches on consecutive days against Wheaton and Britain's Chris Bailey: a total of four hours and 43 minutes.

Wheaton was not alone in making an impact. It was snowing when Todd Witsken left Indiana for Melbourne after resting a sprained ankle. Since arriving on Friday he has acclimatised quickly enough to advance to the third round and accounted yesterday for the big-serving ninth-seeded Dutchman, Richard Krajicek, who was forced to withdraw from a semi-final against Jim Courier last year because of a shoulder injury, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4.

Andrei Medvedev, the impressive young Ukrainian, was fortunate to play his first-round match against Wally Masur in the comparative cool of Monday evening. Yesterday he limited exposure to the sun, taking only 61 minutes to defeat Lars Koslowski, of Germany, 6-0, 6-1, 6-0, the shortest men's singles recorded at the National Tennis Centre.

Not everyone has coped with the heat so well. As the air temperature rose to 35C yesterday (56.9C on the Centre Court) frustrations boiled to tantrum point and both Courier and Michael Stich were fined for abusing umpires.

Courier, the defending champion and world No 1, became increasingly angry when balls he had allowed to bounce, believing them to be out, were called in. At the time he was attempting to conclude his day's work against a fellow American, Robbie Weiss, and considered that five match points were four too many.

Having already given a verbal volley to the Australian umpire, Wayne McKewen, Courier made a one-finger gesture to the official when another call went against him. McKewen responded with a code violation, which will cost Courier dollars 1,000.

Courier finally broke Weiss's resistance with a passing shot to win 6-2, 7-5, 6-4 after two and a half hours. He then indulged in one- way conversation while shaking the umpire by the hand. 'I just told him how much I liked his shirt, and how good I thought the day was going, how beautiful it was, stuff like that. I asked him if he wanted to go and play some golf a little later. Every ball I hit in close was called out, and every ball he hit close was called in; other than that I was completely satisfied.'

The experiment with electronic line calling had to be abandoned after one of the show courts was damaged during installation. While Courier considers that the human element is important, and acknowledges that spectators enjoy controversy on the court, he is a staunch supporter of Cyclops, the service line machine. 'It takes the guesswork out of the game,' he said. 'You can't argue with the beep.'

Stich would beg to differ. He was convinced that phantom beeps by Cylops pushed his match against Fabrice Santoro, of France, into a fifth set. The 1991 Wimbledon champion, who went on to win 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, 4-6, 6-4, responded with 'bullshit' when the American umpire, David Littlefield, told him that he could not overrule the machine.

After warning Stich (the audible obscenity cost him dollars 500), the umpire called the supervisor, Bill Gilmour, at the German's request. Gilmour agreed to have the machine switched off.

Anders Jarryd, who caused a sensation by eliminating Boris Becker in the first round, was forced to retire from his second-round match against Todd Woodbridge, with the Australian leading, 6-1, 6-1, 2-0. It was not the heat that got to the 31- year-old Swede but the calf injury he aggravated against Becker.

Becker, the 1991 champion, said yesterday that he may never return to the Australian Open, complaining that the tournament takes place too early in the year. As soon as his strained thigh muscle permits, the former Wimbledon champion intends to make a strong challenge to reclaim the No 1 position, saying he will play up to 25 tournaments if necessary. He appears to have softened his attitude towards the Davis Cup, saying he will play if Germany are involved in a relegation tie or a semi-final, provided his assistance is requested.

The women's singles is showing signs of life, though yesterday's two upsets were in Monica Seles's half of the draw (the defending champion, still not happy with her form, defeated a Swedish qualifier, Maria Strandlund, 6-2, 6-0).

Jana Novotna, a potential semi- finalist, failed to convert a match point, and the eighth seed paid for it, being defeated by Robin White, a 29-year-old American, 4-6, 7-5, 6-2. Melbourne's Nicole Provis then defeated Lori McNeil, the 10th seed, 3-6, 6-1, 6-1. McNeil, it may be remembered, ambushed Steffi Graf at the Virginia Slims Championships in New York in November.

Gabriela Sabatini, the third seed, dropped only one game to Natalia Baudone, of Italy, and Conchita Martinez, the sixth seed, countered a spirited early challenge by Monique Javer, winning, 7-5, 6-1, to end the British interest.

(Photographs omitted)

Results, Sport in Short