Tennis Roundup : Tulasne, Gomez Advance in U.S. Clay Courts

Top-seeded Thierry Tulasne of France survived the challenge of local favorite Todd Witsken to gain the third round of the U.S. Open Clay Courts tennis championships Thursday at Indianapolis.

Tulasne defeated Witsken, of nearby Carmel, Ind., 2-6, 6-3, 6-1. Tulasne next plays No. 15-seeded Brian Teacher, who beat Jimmy Brown, 6-3, 6-2.

No. 2-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador advanced by downing Diego Perez of Uruguay, 6-2, 6-2.

In women’s competition, top-seeded Steffi Graf of West Germany routed Yvonne Vermaak of South Africa, 6-0, 6-2, and Argentina’s Gabriela Sabatini, seeded third, posted a third-round victory over No. 11-seeded Debbie Spence of Cerritos, 7-5, 6-2.

Mats Wilander of Sweden defeated Henri Leconte of France, 6-4, 6-4, to win an invitational tournament at Kaarst, West Germany.

Leconte reached the final by upsetting Wimbledon champion Boris Becker of West Germany, 6-4, 6-7, 7-6, late Wednesday. Wilander advanced to the final by beating another Frenchman, Guy Forget, 7-5, 7-5.

Top-seeded Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia reached the quarterfinals of the $213,000 Audi tournament at Ede, the Netherlands, with a 7-6, 6-4 victory over unseeded American Mike DePalmer. Meanwhile, another Czech, Miloslav Mecir, seeded No. 3, ousted unseeded Dutchman Michiel Schapers, 6-3, 5-7, 6-7.

Joakim Nystrom of Sweden, seeded No. 1, defeated Fernando Luna of Spain, 6-0, 7-6, and Anders Jarryd of Sweden, seeded No. 2, ousted Ricki Osterthun of West Germany, 6-3, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the Madrid Grand Prix.