Connors and Curren Are Upset Victims in Las Vegas

Top-seeded Jimmy Connors and Kevin Curren were eliminated in straight sets Wednesday in the first round of the $500,000 Alan King tennis tournament at Las Vegas.

Connors was defeated by Vijay Amritraj of India, 6-1, 7-6, and Curren was dispatched even more quickly, losing to 19-year-old Stefan Edberg of Sweden, 6-1, 6-1.

It was the first time Connors had lost in the first round of a tournament since 1981.

Connors had his serve broken twice in the first set and fell behind, 4-0 and 5-1, in the second set. He broke Amritraj twice to pull ahead, 6-5, but Amritraj held service in the 12th game and won the tiebreaker easily.

Also eliminated was No. 7 Scott Davis, who lost a second-round match to John Lloyd, 6-4, 7-6. Only three of the eight seeded players remained.

In other second-round matches, No. 5 Eliot Teltscher beat Paul Annacone, 6-3, 6-0, and Jimmy Arias rallied to beat Russell Simpson, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2.

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova joked with the crowd and toyed with Anne Smith, 6-2, 6-1, in a 54-minute match during the second round of the $150,000 Virginia Slims of Houston tournament.

Navratilova allowed Smith only two points over a three-game stretch of the second set and finished off Smith on the first match point. Navratilova hit a backhand drop shot that drew Smith into the net, then hit a lob over her head for the clincher.

Navratilova broke Smith in the first game of the match but had service problems and was broken in the second game. Smith, who dropped off the circuit two years ago and now plays only occasionally, won only two points in the fourth through sixth games.

In other matches, third-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia turned back Lori McNeil, 6-2, 6-3; Sabrina Goles of Yugoslavia defeated Gretchen Rush, 6-2, 6-1, and Elise Burgin rallied past Stephanie Rehe, 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Top-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden, ranked fourth in the world, defeated Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 7-5, 6-4, to advance to the third round of the $315,000 West German Open at Hamburg.

Wilander, who trailed, 3-1, in the first set, was extended by Hlasek. Wilander finally steadied his game and began to wear down Hlasek with cross-court rallies. The Swede fought to level, 5-5, and then wrapped up the next two games to take the set.

In other matches, Michael Westphal of West Germany outlasted Horacio de la Pena of Argentina, 5-7, 6-3, 6-2; Roberto Arguello of Argentina upset third-seeded Anders Jarryd of Sweden, 7-6, 6-2; Jose-Luis Clerc ousted Pavel Slozil of Czechoslovakia, 6-2, 6-2; Guillermo Villas overcame Trevor Allen of Australia, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; second-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador beat Marko Ostoja of Yugoslavia, 6-2, 6-3, and Sweden’s Joakim Nystrom, the fourth-seeded player, defeated Pablo Arraya of Peru, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.