European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - September 4, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Thursday september 4, 1986 the stars and stripes Page 19 commentary Wilkison learning meaning of big Tim Wilkison is big in Auckland and Sydney and Vienna and Nancy All the places where he has won Tennis tournaments very big in Nancy he says with a smile. Bui he never knew what big was until the last few Days at Flushing Meadows. This is 10 times More than anything i be Ever done he said. What he has done is reach the quarterfinals of the . Open where he was to meet Stefan de bars of Sweden wednesday night. He is the Only american to get that tar. Somewhat la his amazement Wilkison has Felt the Hopes of a City and a nation turn into an affirmation of his Tennis and also of his personality. People like this hard working and modest 26-year-old with a mesh baseball Cap pulled Down Over his eyes his victories Over Yannick Noah a Frenchman and Andrei Chesnokov a russian brought the Galle Ries and the television cameras and the press and maybe even More sponsors Rushing 10 find him. With the two aging bad boys John Mcenroe and Jimmy Connors going out Early a Host nation was caught without anybody to Root far. Nat just new yorkers but tourists from America discovered Tim Wilkison throwing himself around the courts urging himself on with clenched fist and clenched jaw and muttering oaths like fiddlesticks and hone feathers.5 Wilkison and his wife Vicki who travels with him and charts All his matches Are staying with friends on Long Island so they Are avoiding the Telephone Calls and the Buzz of recognition on the sidewalks that happen when somebody is hot in new York. But he knows what is happening Tim wit Sci son from Shelby . Is an overnight Success and it took him Only a decade. At 26, has totally reconstructed his Tennis game in the past iwo years with the help of hit coach. Woody Blocher. He sometimes wondered if he should also reconstruct his Tennis personality. This is a Man who has never been fined a Dollar for bad conduct on the Lour and is proud of it. He has also never been ranked higher than 39lh on the Lour and once in a while he wonders if there is a correlation. Not so much in the last year or two because Lindl a pretty Good and Boris Becker is Good but a few years ago i was thinking maybe i should be like that lie said. But if i were id be angry with myself. It would be counterproductive. If a Guy makes a Good shot i la applaud him because it makes me feel better. I m definitely a competitor i m not mister  Guy. But i m not mister Tough Guy either. I Don t see myself intimidating linesmen. I look Back to players like Laver and Rosewall. I like to think i m like  he was talking about himself tuesday after a hard workout with Blocher a husky Man with a thick mane of Brownish Blond hair who admits we re exact opposite. I m the wild Man and Tim is pretty  Blocher came along in the Junior class with con nors and Erik Van Dill in and Brian Gottfried per haps the Best crop of juniors the country Ever produced. He won the National Junior stay championship and the prestigious Orange bowl event and then Tore up his wrist. He played the tour for a while once winning a match at the open in the late 60s but his temper did i help him. I can relate to Nastase and Mcenroe Blocher admitted tuesday. Mcenroe is a perfectionist but that kind of stuff never helped me. 1 might have been the reason they put in penalty Points. It was a Lack of Confidence a Lack of maturity t understand that now. But i did t understand it  after his Lour career ended Blocher settled in Asheville ., where he worked at a rival club from Wilkison. One Day Wilkison asked him for some advice and Blocher became his occasional coach As Wilkison travelled to Australia and Europe and the Small . Tournaments. Wilkison would win a tournament a year enough to make a Good living in the big Money Era enough to own a townhouse in  and a condominium near Hilton head. , but never enough to make a name for himself at the open until he asked Blocher for advice. I said Tim you need some shots " to Char recalled. You be got to get some rotation on the Ball gel some variety. His Ball was Loo Flat but we went out and rebuilt his game shot by shot. He used 10 just gut it out but now he started beating the Guys below him Wilkison began improving at an age when most players have reached their Levels. He was helped by his wife a former cheerleader at Clemson u in varsity who began charting his matches so 1 could see what my percentages were but also to give her something to do on every shot so she would t have to bite her  � he was always a crowd Peaser because of his positive physical approach but he never fell a grand slam event begin to pulsate around him the Way it did the past few Days. Reaching the quarterfinals is Good but it s Noth ing incredible he said. The situation is perfect. There Aren t that Many americans left and i guess i be got a fairly Good image. I think i m gelling More publicity than i  he knew it might end wednesday night against Edberg but he remembers extending the swede to two tiebreakers in Cincinnati last month and he would like to keep the excitement going. I m extremely hot he said. I m not a  person. I Don t say i can be in the top 10 Bui 1 can climb the ranks and if i was in the top 20, maybe i d be More popular than some other players but 1 can t think about that  he knows this mad hurry at a grand slam tournament could mean sponsorship Money endorsement Money. He was t posturing with baseball Cap and the rambo dives the grimaces and the winning smile he was just being Tim Wilkison from Shelby . But people know his name now and in the Geoe Raphy of Lennis. Flushing Meadows in t Auckland or Sydney or Vienna or  open from Page 17 Early 1 did t feel very confident from the Baseline so i had to go to the net Mecir said. It was the fifth time Wilander and Mecir have faced each other and the third Lime Mecir has won. Although he dropped the first set lie breaker 7-3, Mecir gave notice to i Lander of what to expect when he Brake the swede s service in the first game. I Lander broke right Back Ana the two traded service Breaks again in the fourth and fifth games. Mecir also gained the first service break in the second set to take a 2-0 Lead. The two went Back on serve when i Lander broke Mccier s service in the fifth game but again Mecir prevailed solving the swede s service in the eighth game to break him at 30. He makes you feel you re playing bad but he s just playing too Good it Lander said of Mecir. A feels like when you re playing him there s nothing you can do. He controls your game. Mecir did just that in the third set breaking Wilander s service in the first and ninth games. Then came the vital fourth set the one that turned out o be the last of the match. Mecir was up a service break and serv ing for the match in the ninth game. But Yllander rising to the occasion slammed a backhand passing shot Down the line. Then after Weir s backhand Volley made it 15-is, Wetander capture the next three Points to break serve. I knew 1 still had s-4," Mecir said. I had to concentrate on lire next game to win it jul photo Martina Navra Milava. Bittersweet Victory and that he did. The two battled to 30-30 before it Lander look a 40oo Lead on a controversial Point. Mecir wound up netting a backhand in a rally that saw the swede hit a Ball that appeared to be Long. After the Point Mecir quickly turned and stared at the Baseline judge. The Call stood but Mecir had the perfect answer. He pulled to Deuce with a smash moved to advantage with a backhand passing shot. And when he rifled a Back hand service return Cross court a shot tha. Wilander never had a Chance at Mecir was in the quarterfinals. Navratilova said her Victory Over Shrive was bittersweet. I seem to feel the Strain More against her because we re such Good friends the world s top ranked women s player said. It s not a pleasurable  although Navratilova holds a 26-3 Ca reer Edge Over Shriver two of Shriver s victories have come on the Haid courts in the . Open the last time in the quarterfinals in 1982. I be lost to her a few times and that gels me up More than for an opponent i be never lost to Navratilova said. Shriver was impressed with Navratilova. I think she s pretty much on a Par with what she wants to be playing Shriver said. She covers the court and reaches better than anybody. She goes Back for a lob better than anybody. She s just  Navratilova dominated the match whether ripping a Cross court passing shot or deftly dropping a touch Volley. For most of the match Navratilova held her serve easily while Shriver struggled to Deuce almost every time. The two traded service Breaks in the third and fourth games. Then Navratilova rolled through the next four games breaking Shriver s service at. 30 in the fifth game and from Deuce in the seventh both coming with plenty of help from Shriver. In the fifth game Shriver do ble faulted at break Point. And in the seventh with the two at Deuce Shriver Dou ble faulted twice in a Row. Navratilova held at 30 in the eighth game to close out the first set in 32 min  came the longest game of the match a 24-Point Marathon that lasted 14 minutes. When it was Over Shriver had held serve but the Effort 10 fight through nine deuces seemed to Lake its  held at love in her next two service games while Shriver was taken to Deuce every time she served in the set. In the seventh game she finally was broken when from Deuce Shriver netted a forehand Volley and Navratilova rifled an unrest unable backhand service return to Shriver s feet. It was All Navratilova needed and when she held at 30 in the 10th game she had her fifth Victory of this grand slam tournament. She needs two More to claim her third . Open Crown in the last four , the 18-year-old who is ranked third in the world already has iwo Wimbledon titles. Now he wants to prove his powerful diving style is Asef festive Here As it is on Wimbledon s grass  Donnelly better known for his doubles play Becker said his game was almost  the match was almost Over at two sets to love and 3-0, and i Felt really comfortable out there. But then i had 40-15 Ai 3-1 and then suddenly 1 served two double faults Becker said. Donnelly ranked 211th in the world broke Becker s service in the fifth game then won the tiebreaker 7-4. But Becker broke Donnelly in the opening game of the fourth set at 30, then served out the rest of the match. I started to gel a Little More Confidence As the match went on Donnelly said. I just started to believe i could win after i broke him in the third set. I just Felt  thought maybe 1 could turn it around if i got Back in the fourth