Curren, Cash Lead Advance in London

Kevin Curren of South Africa and Pat Cash of Australia, the two highest-seeded players remaining in the Queen’s Club men’s tennis tournament at London, battled through to the third round Thursday.

Curren, the No. 2-seeded player who is now favored to win the title after Wednesday’s exit of three-time champion Jimmy Connors, struggled to a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Hank Pfister.

Although hampered by a back problem, Cash, seeded No. 3, eliminated Vijay Amritraj of India, 6-2, 6-3. Cash will next face fellow Australian Mark Edmondson, who defeated Chris Lewis of New Zealand, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4.

Curren’s third-round opponent will be No. 9-seeded Paul Annacone, who beat Tim Wilkison, 6-4, 5-7, 8-6.

Qualifier Mike DePalmer, Wednesday’s hero for his upset of Connors, edged Wally Masur of Australia, 7-6, 7-5, Thursday. He will play Paul McNamee of Australia in the third round. McNamee routed No. 16-seeded Sammy Giammalva, 6-1, 6-2.

No. 5-seeded Tim Mayotte advanced with a 7-6, 7-6 victory over Tom Gullikson and will meet Wojtek Fibak of Poland, a 7-6, 6-3 winner over Britain’s John Lloyd.

Leif Shiras, who upset Ivan Lendl in the first round of this tournament last year and went on to reach the final, was eliminated in the second round by Russell Simpson of New Zealand, 6-7, 6-1, 6-3.

In other matches, No. 8 David Pate beat Larry Stefanki, 4-6, 6-1, 6-4; Ricardo Acuna of Chile defeated Francisco Gonzalez of Puerto Rico, 6-4, 6-2; John Fitzgerald of Australia eliminated Eddie Edwards of South Africa, 6-1, 7-6; No. 11 Boris Becker of West Germany ousted Dan Cassidy, 6-4, 7-6; Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia defeated Henri Leconte, 6-4, 6-4, and Ricardo Acuna of Chile upset No. 14 Ben Testerman, 6-4, 6-2.

At Birmingham, England, Pam Shriver defeated Marcella Mesker of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-3, to lead an American charge into the quarterfinals of the Edgbaston Cup women’s tournament.

In other third-round matches, Betsy Nagelsen eliminated Kim Shaefer, 7-5, 6-3; Alycia Moulton beat Kristin Kinney, 6-2, 6-3; Ann Henricksson defeated Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat, 7-6, 6-4; Susan Mascarin downed Anne Minter of Australia, 6-2, 6-4, and Elise Burgin overcame Camille Benjamin, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4.