Tennis Roundup : Lendl, Becker Struggle but Reach Final

U.S. Open champion Ivan Lendl and Wimbledon champion Boris Becker overcame difficult semifinal challenges Saturday to reach today’s final in a $375,000 men’s Grand Prix tennis tournament at London.

Becker, seeded second, outlasted Anders Jarryd, 7-6, 7-6--winning the tiebreakers, 11-9 and 7-4.

“The only good thing today was that I won,” Becker said. “Yesterday, I played my best match of the tournament; today I didn’t.”

Jarryd, 24 and ranked No. 9 in the world, clearly played to Becker’s backhand and forced many errors. But the Swede was off his game and could not sustain any pressure against Becker.

Lendl struggled past unseeded David Pate, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, in 2 hours 15 minutes. Lendl’s match was hampered by a leaky roof, which caused a puddle of water to form on the playing area.

“I felt sluggish and dizzy,” Lendl said. “I got up the wrong way today.”

Pam Shriver outlasted defending champion Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia, 7-6, 1-6, 6-2, to reach the final of a $150,000 women’s tournament at Brisbane, Australia.

Shriver, who won the tournament in 1981 and 1983, will play Martina Navratilova in today’s final. Navratilova needed only 53 minutes to beat Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany, 6-1, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

Navratilova holds a 21-3 lifetime edge over Shriver, who has not beaten her since the quarterfinals of the 1982 U.S. Open.