Tennis Roundup : Navratilova, Mandlikova Win Openers

Martina Navratilova overwhelmed Terry Phelps, 6-1, 6-1, Tuesday night to gain the quarterfinals of the $500,000 Virginia Slims Championships at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

Navratilova, the two-time defending champion, broke Phelps’ serve six successive times and needed only 51 minutes to register her 23rd match victory this year against one loss.

Phelps, a 19-year-old from Larchmont, N.Y., smiled throughout the match and appeared to enjoy it. “I try not to let misses get me down,” she said. “I try to laugh it off.”

In another first-round match, Hana Mandlikova came back from a 3-1 deficit in the second set to beat Zina Garrison, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2.

Earlier, fourth-seeded Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany defeated Wendy Turnbull of Australia, 7-6, 6-4.

Chris Evert Lloyd, who is seeded second in the tournament, will play her opening-round match tonight against Barbara Potter.

Unseeded Jonathan Canter of Beverly Hills, Calif., stunned seventh-seeded Henri Leconte of France, 6-4, 6-4, in the first round of the $315,000 Belgian Indoor championships at Brussels.

Top-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden and second-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany are to play their first matches today.

At Fort Myers, Fla., third-seeded Brad Gilbert was upset by Greg Holmes, 6-2, 6-4, in the $315,000 Paine Webber tournament. Gilbert is the 10th-ranked player in the world.