Tennis Roundup : Gomez Withdraws From U.S. Pro Tournament

Second-seeded Andres Gomez withdrew from the $267,000 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships at Brookline, Mass., Tuesday with an injury and opened up a surprise path toward the quarterfinals for veteran Harold Solomon.

Gomez, 25, of Ecuador, had passed up Wimbledon, but again injured the tear in his right quadriceps muscle, which forced him out of the tournament at Longwood Cricket Club without playing a match.

Tournament officials announced that a “lucky loser” named Stansilav Birner of Czechoslovakia had been moved into the Gomez position in the draw.

This meant that Solomon, the 1976 champion, would have to face Birner in the second round after the 32-year-old Fort Lauderdale, Fla., resident defeated Pavel Slozil of Czechoslovakia, 6-4, 6-3, in his opening-round match.

While Gomez was injured during a practice session, third-seeded Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia led a group of seeded players through their opening matches. Mecir downed former NCAA singles champion Mikael Pernfors of Sweden, 6-3, 6-4.

However 12th-seeded Jose Higueras of Spain dropped his opening match, 6-4, 6-2, to Jimmy Brown of Brentwood, Tenn.

Top-seeded Johan Kriek tamed his temper in the third set and went on to defeat Jim Grabb, 7-5, 4-6, 6-2, in a first-round match of the $117,000 Volvo Tennis Hall of Fame Championships at Newport, R.I.

Kriek, a 27-year-old naturalized American who is ranked 15th in the world, threw his racket, slammed balls in disgust and complained about line calls and the soft grass courts of the Newport Casino en route to his victory over Grabb, a 21-year-old member of the U.S. Junior Davis Cup team.

In other first-round matches, third-seeded Scott Davis, No. 4 David Pate, fifth-seeded Paul Annacone and eighth-seeded John Fitzgerald, advanced to the next round. Sammy Giammalva, the seventh-seeded player, was upset by Tim Gullikson, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Vitas Gerulaitis and Frenchman Henri Leconte, seeded fourth and fifth, were upset in the first round of the $150,000 Swiss Open tournament at Gstaad.

Gabriela Sabatini has been ruled ineligible to compete in Team Tennis because of a commitment to play in a tournament in Indianapolis.

The ruling by league Commissioner Billie Jean King also caused Miami Beach Breakers Coach Patricio Apey and Mercedes Paz to leave the team. Apey and Paz joined the Breakers in a package deal with Sabatini, the 15-year-old Argentine many predict will be tennis’ next female star. Apey is Sabatini’s coach.

The Breakers play the Los Angeles Strings Thursday at the Forum.

Boris Becker, the 17-year-old West German tennis star who became the youngest Wimbledon men’s champion Sunday, played the entire two-week tournament unaware that his grandfather had died a week before, the player’s family said.

Becker’s parents, Karl-Heinz and Elvira Becker, who watched the final at the All England Club in Wimbledon, kept the news of the death a secret from their son so that it would not affect his play during the championship, an uncle, Hans Becker, revealed.