ODIZOR OF NIGERIA TOPS VILAS IN 5 SETS

By Neil Amdur, Special To the New York Times
June 21, 1983

Guillermo Vilas and Jose-Luis Clerc, missing from last year's Wimbledon tennis championships because of Argentina's war with Britain over the Falkland Islands, were eliminated on the tournament's opening day today.

A 24-year-old Nigerian, Nduka Odizor, playing his first centercourt match ever in a Grand Slam event, saved a match point from two sets down in a third-set tiebreaker and then outlasted the fourthseeded Vilas in a 4-hour-7-minute marathon. The scores were 3-6, 5-7, 7-6, 7-5, 6-2.

Odizor's amazing saga began as a promising 15-year-old player in Lagos. Discovered by an American college professor, he was encouraged to continue his education in the United States, was graduated with a degree in marketing from the University of Houston in 1981 and is now ranked 82d on the men's computer rankings.

''At first before I went out on center court, I thought I'd be very nervous,'' said the lanky Odizor, whose 14 aces, crisp first volleys and aggressive service returns dominated Vilas in the last two sets. ''Amazingly, I was not.'' Clerc Loses to Panatta

Two other seeded players, Clerc, No. 7, and Steve Denton, No. 9, joined Vilas as opening-day casualties. The 24-year-old Clerc, whose normally sound game has collapsed in a wave of first-round losses since March, appeared with a Bjorn Borg-like beard, but it could not hide his deficiencies during a 6-1, 6-4, 6-2 setback to Claudio Panatta of Italy.

Denton, one of the game's hardest hitters, succumbed in fading light to Chris Lewis of New Zealand in a five-setter, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6, 4-6, 6-3, that did not conclude until 9:11 P.M. Lewis is only 91st on the men's computer, but he is known as a dangerous ''floater'' in a draw and had lost a close match (6-4, 7-6) to Denton at Queen's Club only two weeks ago.

The most apparent benefactor in the defeats of Vilas, Clerc and Denton may have been the top-seeded Jimmy Connors, the defending singles champion, who saw three seeded rivals cleared from his half of the draw. The 30-year-old Connors handled Eddie Edwards, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3, in the opening match on the center court, and said afterward, ''I can serve better, which I will do.''

Asked whether some of Edwards's slow-ball tactics had effectively shaken Connors's forehand and left him struggling at 1-4 in the second set, Connors annoyingly snapped, ''It really works, doesn't it?'' McEnroe Wins in 3 Sets

The pressures were different for John McEnroe and Billie Jean King, but each survived their opening-round matches. A handful of foot faults kept McEnroe and his southpaw opponent, Ben Testerman, unsettled on the No.1 court before McEnroe's natural talent prevailed, 6-4, 7-6, 6-2.

''I haven't been called for one foot fault in Europe,'' said McEnroe, who was called for four today and next faces Florin Segarceanu of Rumania. ''It's really strange. I'll have to have someone look at it in practice tomorrow. Maybe I was.''

Mrs. King, a semifinalist here last year, thought all the signs were positive for her 21st Wimbledon singles. Her brother Randy Moffitt's baseball team, the Blue Jays, were winning; Sally Ride, the astronaut and a friend, was having a ''great ride,'' and today's warm, sunny weather was another psychological plus.

But Mrs. King saw first-set leads of 3-0 and 5-3 diminish - ''I felt I was struggling'' - until her experience and serve-and-volley skills won, 7-5, 6-3, over Elisabeth Sayers, a 20-year-old Australian.

''For me to get through a first round is a miracle,'' said the 39-year-old six-time Wimbledon champion. In contrast to last year's rain-plagued Wimbledon, today's weather lifted spirits. Even a threatened nationwide television blackout of the tournament was put on hold by union technicians, and few among the 26,000 spectators at the All England Lawn Tennis Club complained about the price increase in strawberries and cream from $1.50 to $2.20. An Aggressive Game

Odizor's breakthrough, in only his second Wimbledon, was remarkable, despite Vilas's preoccupation with his possible one-year suspension for purportedly acccepting appearance money,

Soft-spoken and self-effacing, Odizor can still recall showing up with a board for a racquet at a 1970 United States State Department clinic in Lagos, given by Arthur Ashe and Stan Smith. However, it was not until Dr. Robert Wren, a visiting psychology professor from the University of Houston, recognized Odzior's potential and offered to pay for his final year of high school at a private school in Houston that his game improved.

Blessed with an aggressive, at times explosive serve-and-volley game, Odizor reached the semifinals in singles and doubles at the 1981 national collegiate championships. He lost to Mats Wilander in the second round here last year and seemed headed for defeat when Vilas led, 3-0, and then 7-6 in the third-set tiebreaker.

But instead of playing through match point from the backcourt, Vilas belately tried to attack in the rally from far behind the baseline. Odizor countered with a crisp forehand passing shot and won the tiebreaker, 9-7.

''I don't even remember how I won the point,'' he later said.

rusher14:
Happy birthday champ.

Ikennaford:

Champ in Lagos

Neimar:
I never knew we had professional tennis players
Congrats sir