Mac Gets A New Mr. Fix-it

The fortified McEnroe had no trouble with Gilbert, or with Christo van Rensburg in the semis. In the other semi, Lendl had his hands full against 17-year-old Andre Agassi of Las Vegas, who seems to thrive in the pristine mountain air. Last year he surprised Tim Mayotte before falling to McEnroe. This year he knocked off Wimbledon champion Pat Cash. Lendl's scouting report said the kid had "a haircut and a forehand." True enough, and it's debatable which is more formidable.

The haircut, which is blond and fluffy on top and close-cut and brown on the sides, had teenyboppers from Burlington to Brattleboro swooning. The whiplash forehand had Lendl talking to himself as he dropped the second set 7-5. But No. 90's don't often beat No. 1's, and this one didn't, either. Lendl broke Agassi in the second game of the final set to win 6-2, 5-7, 6-3.

McEnroe admitted he was stalking Lendl at Stratton. "I haven't played him since the '85 Open, and that was when the tide turned," he said. "The guy has taken over my spot. I hope to get a shot at him." He is not, however, eager to have Lendl, who is seeking U.S. citizenship, as a Davis Cup teammate. That, said Mac, "would be very difficult for me to swallow." Lendl shot back, "It's hard to imagine someone with his mouth having a difficult time swallowing anything."

McEnroe walked slowly and purposefully between points in Vermont, breathing deeply and moving his arms in wide arcs. Seo wants Mac to stay limber and has taught him "my two kinds of breathing—one for relaxation, one for speed and power." You may see a lot of on-court aerobics from Mac, because he says Seo is "working with me on a long-term basis." If Seo has his way, his tenure won't expire until the late 1990s. "I told him I could have him play great until he is 40 years old," said Seo.

McEnroe won the first set 7-6 with four deftly angled volleys in the tiebreaker. He fell behind a break in the second set and, as a drizzle started, he lost his cool. When the crowd booed a stoppage in play with Lendl leading the set 4-1, Mac responded with two crotch grabs that would have made Jimmy Connors proud. Seo looked on somberly. Surely this was not the exercise in discipline and self-control the guru had in mind. The final was to be completed on Monday, but the storm remained stalled over the mountains, and tournament officials were forced to postpone the rest of the match indefinitely.

So Mac is back yet again—more or less. But which Mac is this? The old gifted-but-angry one? The new controlled-and-ascetic one? A mingling of the two? The answer, Grasshopper, is elusive.