Tennis Roundup : Noah Finally Frustrates Connors

France’s Yannick Noah defeated Jimmy Connors for the first time ever to advance to the finals of the $200,000 D.C. National Bank Tennis Classic.

Noah used a powerful serve that reeled off three straight aces in the third set to defeat Connors for the first time in their six career meetings, 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 at Washington D.C.

Noah, seeded third, will face 11th-seeded Martin Jaite of Argentina, who outlasted fellow countryman Marcelo Ingaramo earlier Sunday, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

The loss marked the eighth time this year Connors has reached the semifinals without coming away with a championship. He won the title here in 1976 and 1978.

It got so frustrating that Connors arguing with the umpire on the validity of the final ace served by Noah, was cited for a code-violation for using obscene language. He was also issued a warning for yelling obscenities at chair umpire Leon Lipp after the fifth game.

“The guy was screwing us both from the very beginning, it sets a precedent that the guy can’t do the job,” Connors said. “They should get somebody who can do the job.”

Noah responded: “He didn’t give me the match, he didn’t take it away from Jimmy. He made some mistakes. The guy had glasses and it’s not that easy to see at night with glasses.”

Connors made it into the semifinal round without meeting a seeded player.

Top-seeded Chris Evert Lloyd overcame a service break in the second game and scored an easy 6-4, 6-1 victory Sunday over Pam Shriver to win the $150,000 Virginia Slims tennis tournament at Newport, R.I.

The win was Lloyd’s 15th without a loss against Shriver, who was seeded second. The two had not faced each other in 2 1/2 years.

The second game in the first set lasted 14 points, and Lloyd faced four break points before losing her serve. Shriver won the first two points of the third game before Lloyd started to rally. She then won five points in a row to break Shriver’s serve.

“Maybe Pam was nervous, and I raised the level of my game when I was in trouble,” Lloyd said.

Lloyd battled back from 0-40 to hold serve in the eighth game of the first set and take a 5-3 lead. Both of the players held serve as Lloyd took the set, 6-4.

Lloyd also won in the doubles final, teaming with Wendy Turnbull of Australia for a 6-4, 7-6 victory over the top-seeded team of Elizabeth Smylie of Australia and Shriver.

When Mats Wilander lost to Slobodan Zivojinovic in the first round at Wimbledon, there were some doubts as to whether he was one of the top tennis players in the world.

Wilander has answered those questions with his play after his first-round loss especially Sunday when he crushed fellow Swede Stefan Edberg, 6-1, 6-0, in the final of the $100,000 Swedish Open.

Wilander the world’s No. 3-ranked player won the French Open and the U.S. Pro Championships at Brookline earlier this summer and currently has a string of 17 straight victories on clay.

Wilander broke the fourth-seeded Edberg in the fourth game of the first set in a match that lasted just 59 minutes.

Wilander defeated Edberg by the largest margin in the Open’s history.

Camille Benjamin defeated Beth Herr, 6-4, 6-1, in a women’s singles first-round match at the rain-plagued U.S. Open Clay Courts tennis championships at Indianapolis.

A late-afternoon rainstorm forced officials of the $575,000 tournament to suspend play and to delay until today matches involving No. 9-seeded Lisa Bonder, last year’s runner-up, and No. 13-seeded Debbie Spence.

Play begins today in the men’s tournament, featuring top-seeded Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia and Wimbledon champion Boris Becker of West Germany, who is seeded third.