European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 03, 1977, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Saturday september 3, 1977 the stars and stripes Page 21 Forest Hills Wade defeats Richards easily in . Open every Borg Connors a so score psf round wins Yale Sachare Forest Hills . A reigning Queen Chris Evert and injured stars Bjorn Borg and Jimmy Connors posted first round victories thursday while Virginia Wade brought Renee Richards Odyssey to an abrupt halt in the second Day of play at the $462,420 . Open Tennis Champion ships. Although 20 seeded players nine men and 11 women were in action at the West Side Tennis club All eyes were on the Long sports chargers nip rams on last play 26-25 Nyji scour los Angeles up Toni Fritsch booted a 22-Yard Field goal on the last play of the game thursday night to give san Diego a 26-25 exhibition Victory Over los Angeles in a game in which sex ram quarterback James Harris threw three touch Down passes for the chargers. Harris who was shipped to san Diego in june after the rams acquired Joe Namath completed scoring passes of 34 and 7 Yards to former Heisman trophy Winner Johnny Rodgers and 9 Yards to Chuck Bradley. Fritsch a six year pro who was born in Austria sent the rams Down to their third straight pre season defeat after a last minute Charger drive bogged Down on a fourth and five situation with three seconds showing on the clock. When Fritsch kicked the game winning three Pointer for the sixth Lead change in the game time ran out. Fritsch also connected on a 36-Yard Field goal just As time ran out at the half to give san Diego a 17-16 advantage. The rams appeared to have won the game with 5 43 remaining when Tom Dempsey booted a 35-Yard Field goal to make the score 25-23. But Rodgers ran Back the ensuing kick off 31 Yards to the Charger 38 and san Diego then drove 57 Yards in 10 plays. The rams went ahead 22-17 in the third Quarter on a touchdown drive engineered by Namath with John Cappelletti scoring on a 7-Yard run. But Harris hit Rodgers with 8 34 remaining to put the chargers in front 23-22 in the see saw Battle witnessed by a crowd of 55,946. Harris sent his team to an Early 14-0 Lead but the rams came Back and tied the score As  Haden passed 32 Yards to tight end Terry Nelson and 9 Yards to Harold Jackson for touchdowns. Los Angeles went ahead 16-14 in the second Quarter when Charger punter Jeff West was tackled in the end zone for a safety by ram safety Man Bill Simpson. Harris completed 16-of-30 passes for 234 Yards while Haden was 7-for-13 for 100 Yards and Namath 3-for-7 for 53 Yards. Rodgers coming to the nil after a so Journ in Canada caught five passes for 80 Yards returned three kickoffs for 74 Yards and returned two punts for 25 for a total of179 Yards. San Diego 1430926 los Angeles 7 9 6 3 25 so Bradley 9 pass from Harris Fritsch kick so Rodgers 7 pass from Harris Fritsch kick i a Nelson 32 pass from Haden Dempsey kick  9 pass from Haden Dempsey kick la safety West tacked in end zone so Fig Fritsch 36 la Cappell tit 7 run kick failed so Rodgers 34 pass from Harris kick failed la Fig Dempsey 35 so Fig Fritsch 22a-55,946. Awaited National championship debut of Richards the 43-year-old transsexual who won a year Long court Battle last month to gain a place in the women s draw. The heralded match played in 90-degree heat and High humidity was never much of a contest. Wade the third seeded britishers who won Wimbledon earlier this summer appeared nervous in the first game which went to Deuce before she was Able to hold service. But she allowed just one Point in breaking Richards service then held her own to grab a commanding 3-0 Lead. After Richards held her service in the fourth game the 31-year-old Wade won three in a Row to close out the first set. The second set was a bit tougher going to 3-3 before Wade gained control by break ing service hitting a sharply angled Back hand for the winning Point. She then held service twice to win the match. When it was All Over Richards seemed relieved. Disappointed but relieved. Transsexual Renee Richards a big experience for me i was More tense than i would have liked to have been she said. As a competitive Tennis player i can t think of losing 6-1, 6-4 As a Victory of any kind moral or otherwise. But it was certainly a big experience for me. It was the first time i be Ever had a Chance to play in such a big event against such a Good  Richards was greeted warmly by the near capacity crowd which seemed to cheer both players equally. I be been watching matches in this stadium for More than 30 years she said and i be never seen a Forest Hills crowd that was t fair  Wade said she was Happy to win in straight sets although she Felt she was t As Lively As i d like to  her drop shots constantly left Richards Flat footed and she approached the net surely and aggressively. Evert who needs a Victory Here to reas Sert her position atop the women s Tennis ranks was at the top of her game in rout ing Sharon Walsh of Mill Valley Calif., 6-0, 6-1, in just 41 minutes. Considering this is the first match i be played in five months i m quite pleased said Evert who has been playing world team Tennis. I m really psyched for this tournament she added. Ever since i lost Wimbledon i be been looking Forward to Forest Hills. I think i m mentally tougher than i was last  neither of the two top men s seeds seemed bothered by the injuries which pushed their opening matches Back a Day Borg a strained shoulder Connors a bad Back. The top ranked swede whipped Trey Waltke of St. Louis 6-2, 6-1, and no. 2-rated Connors the defending Champ beat Jasjit Singh of Grossinger n. Y., 6-2, 6-0. I Felt pretty Good said Borg who Hurt his shoulder in practice tuesday. If i tried to hit too hard i Felt too much pain. I know people expect me to win. But i m not going to Hurt myself just because the no. 1 ranking is at stake. It s important to take care of myself. I could Hurt myself Here and be out a couple of months what Good would that be Borg s serve was Well below top Speed but Waltke was unable to take advantage because of the slow playing Clay courts. Connor s serve meanwhile was at full strength against Singh. Why change a winning thing he Rea soned. I can t change my strokes just be cause my Back is hurting. It can t get worse Only better. It s sore but it s Good enough to play. I be still got to go out and do  nearly All the other seeded players also continued on Page 24 Rutherford nails California 500 pole by Jerry Garrett Ontario Calif. A Johnny Rutherford s Luck in the California 500 seems to be changing. Up until last year Rutherford s list of achievements in six previous California 500s included a fire an Accident two 31st place finishes a 27th, 26th and 17th. But he finished a respectable second in 1976, and served notice he intends to win the eighth annual running of the $345,000 race sunday by nailing Down the pole Posi Tion in qualifying wednesday with a Speed of 195.111 Miles per hour. We be found just about every conceivable Way to lose a race Here Rutherford said. Now it looks like we Are in pretty Good shape to win one for a change despite setting the fastest qualifying Speed Rutherford said he was still far from satisfied with his White Mclaren cos  re changing the car completely to get it ready for the race Rutherford Dis closed. Some of the changes we made in practice have taken it right into the twi Light zone. Even the slightest adjustment will cause a drastic change in the  the volatile nature of the Mclaren s Chassis settings was evident on Ruther Ford s four Lap qualification run around the 2.5-mile Ontario motor Speedway. He started off at 197.672 Miles per hour then dropped All the say to 194.049, went Back up to 195.059, then plummeted to 193.715 on the final go round. On the second Lap i was fighting to keep it out of the Wall in turn one i had to get off the throttle. On the last Lap i was just trying to nurse it round to the Check ered Flag Rutherford explained. I had my doubts about that Speed holding up but i thought the wind would come up along with the heat and make it harder for Al Unser Mario Andretti and Danny Ongais to beat  Andretti and Unser narrowly missed dislodging Rutherford. They had drawn qualifying numbers during the late after noon. Andretti fell two tenths of a second Short of Rutherford s elapsed time of 3 minutes 4.51 seconds. Unser was three tenths shy. Both had faster laps than Rutherford s average but could t hold the average. It was quite Windy. Down in turn one it was very bad Unser explained. And it was getting Loose coming off turn four. I just could t hold my breath any  Andretti said the car really worked Beautiful. But there was not quite enough adjustment in the cockpit to compensate for the wind and heat. Am i Happy with it i guess i la have to  Ontario Calif. Up the 33-car Field and alter nates after thursday s qualifying for sunday s 345,000 California so at the Ontario motor Speedway Row t 1, Johnny Rutherford fort Worth tex., me Laren a Worth 195.111 Mph 2, Mario Andretti Naza Reth pa., Mclaren co Worth 194.900 Mph 3, Al Unser Albuquerque n.m., Parnelli co Worth 194.774 Mph. Row 2 4, Tom Sneva Spokane wash., Penske cos Worth 13.736 Mph 5, Gordon Johncock Hastings mich., Wildcat dog 193.684 Mph 6, . Foyt Houston Coyote Foyt 191.887 Mph. Row 3 7, Bobby Unser Albuquerque n.m., lightning offy 191.042 Mph 8, Bobby Olivero Lakewood Calif., lightning offy 189.274 Mph 9, Mike Mosley Fallbrook Calif., lightning offy 188.029 Mph. Row 4 10, Roger Mccluskey Tucson ariz., lightning offy 187.441 Mph 11, Jim Mcelreath Arlington tex., Eagle am 187.295 Mph 12, Dick Simon san Juan Capis Trano Calif., Vollstedt offy 186.994 Mph. Rows 13, Spike Gehlhausen Jasper ind Eagle offy continued on Page 24