Tennis Roundup : Noah and Gilbert Advance to Semifinals

Fourth-seeded Yannick Noah of France and 11th-seeded Brad Gilbert advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Pro Indoor tennis championships Friday at Philadelphia.

Noah defeated sixth-seeded Kevin Curren, 6-3, 7-6, while Gilbert ousted Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 6-7, 6-4, 6-3.

Noah got the service break he needed in the first set when he hit a winner on his return of serve to go ahead 3-1. Noah and Curren held serve throughout the second set, with Noah winning the tiebreaker, 7-5.

After losing the first-set tiebreaker, Gilbert deliberately ripped his shirt down the front and had to change into a new one before the start of the second set. The show of emotion seemed to spur Gilbert, and he broke Hlasek in the first game of the second set.

Gilbert broke Hlasek twice in the last set, in the fifth game and in the ninth.

Gilbert will face the winner of Friday night’s quarterfinal match between top-seeded Ivan Lendl and eight-seeded Paul Annacone. Noah will meet whoever wins the match between second-seeded Jimmy Connors and seventh-seeded Tim Mayotte.

Top-seeded Chris Evert Lloyd continued her strong play in a $250,000 Women’s Tennis Assn. tournament Friday at Key Biscayne, Fla., scoring a 6-1, 6-0 quarterfinal victory over 12th-seeded Stephanie Rehe.

Lloyd defeated Canada’s Carling Bassett by the same score the day before. Lloyd has now lost only four games in three matches in her first tournament this year. She took a six-week rest after finishing her 1985 schedule in the Australian Open and has returned to the tour fresh and strong.

“I really felt I have played extremely well the past two matches,” she said. “After the first-night jitters, I have calmed down and am hitting the ball well and am dictating the pace of play.”

In another quarterfinal match, second-seeded Steffi Graf of West Germany beat eighth-seeded Wendy Turnbull of Australia, 6-1, 6-7, 6-2.