Tennis Roundup : Lendl Easily Beats Connors in Rescheduled Title Match

Ivan Lendl defeated Jimmy Connors, 6-1, 6-3, at Jericho, N.Y., Thursday night to win the Hamlet Challenge Cup, a tournament that began before the start of the U.S. Open last August.

The match originally was scheduled for Aug. 25 but was rained out and rescheduled for Thursday so the players could prepare instead for the U.S. Open.

Lendl, who collected $35,000, allowed Connors to hold serve only twice. Connors received $17,000 as runner-up.

The United States overcame a one-set deficit in a deciding doubles match for a 2-1 win over Argentina to reach the Federation Cup semifinals at Toyota, Japan.

In singles, Kathy Jordan, ranked No. 15 in the world, beat Adriana Villagran of Argentina, 6-1, 6-1. But Zina Garrison, the world’s No. 6 player, lost to 15-year-old Gabriela Sabatini, 5-7, 6-1, 6-1.

In the doubles, Jordan and Sharon Walsh rallied to beat Sabatini and Villagran, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4 .

Top-seeded Kevin Curren defeated South Africa’s Christo Steyn, 6-7, 6-2, 11-9, to reach the third round of the South African Open at Johannesburg.

Only 3 of the 41 games went to deuce as Curren hit 21 aces to Steyn’s 16.

Top-seeded Yannick Noah of France beat defending champion Mark Dickson, 7-6, 6-1, at Toulouse, France, to gain the quarterfinals of a $175,000 Grand Prix tournament.

At Indianapolis, Bonnie Gadusek advanced to the quarterfinals of a $75,000 Virginia Slims tournament with a 6-1, 6-2 win over Grace Kim.

John McEnroe, saying he had aggravated a shoulder injury, pulled out of next week’s $420,000 Australian Indoor championships at Sydney. McEnroe said he injured his shoulder Wednesday night while losing a 7-5, 6-4 exhibition to Lendl at East Rutherford, N.J.