McEnroe Has to Win Third-Set Tiebreaker

John McEnroe escaped defeat only by winning a third-set tiebreaker Friday night in the Tournament of Champions at Forest Hills, N.Y.

The tournament’s top-seeded player moved into the semifinals with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-6 victory over unseeded Claudio Panatta of Italy, winning the tiebreaker, 7-5.

“I didn’t feel as bad as I looked,” said McEnroe, who was guilty of 50 unforced errors against only 17 for his opponent and had five double-faults to none for Panatta.

McEnroe will face Sweden’s Henrik Sundstrom, who beat him in a Davis Cup match in December. Sundstrom, seeded fourth, advanced Friday by defeating ninth-seeded Terry Moor, 6-1, 6-2.

Earlier, second-seeded Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia halted Lawson Duncan’s surprising run with a 6-3, 6-3 victory, setting up a meeting with third-seeded Aaron Krickstein, who defeated seventh-seeded Brad Gilbert, 6-3, 7-6.

Pam Shriver, who began a comeback last month after being sidelined for three months by injuries, served notice that she was back by beating Rosalyn Fairbank of South Africa, 7-6, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the $200,000 Australian Women’s Indoor tennis championships at Sydney.

Shriver will play fourth-seeded Alycia Moulton in today’s semifinals. Moulton advanced with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-1 victory over Annabel Croft of Britain.