Tennis Roundup : Connors Gains Semifinals With Victory Over Seguso

Third-seeded Jimmy Connors achieved a measure of revenge against his Wimbledon conqueror, Robert Seguso, while winning two singles matches Friday to advance to the semifinals of the $315,000 Volvo International at Stratton Mountain, Vt.

The next opponent for Connors, who beat Seguso, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, will be top-seeded Ivan Lendl, who defeated seventh-seeded Brad Gilbert, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.

Meanwhile, fourth-seeded John McEnroe reached the semifinals by beating 16-year-old Andre Agassi, 6-3, 6-3, to set up a long-awaited meeting with Boris Becker

McEnroe, returning to tennis after a 6 1/2-month layoff, has not played the West German teen-ager in a Grand Prix event since Becker won the first of his two Wimbledon titles in July 1985.

The second-seeded Becker defeated Martin Laurendeau, a Pepperdine student playing in his first Grand Prix tournament, 7-5, 6-2.

Connors’ third-round match with Pablo Arraya was interrupted by rain Thursday, with Connors leading 4-6, 6-4, 4-0.

Connors needed just two games Friday morning to finish the match and 90 minutes later took on Seguso, who had ousted the 33-year-old Connors this summer in the first round at Wimbledon.

Due to rain delays on Wednesday and Thursday, three other third-round matches were also completed Friday. McEnroe eliminated Wally Masur of Australia, 6-2, 7-6; Agassi beat Scott Davis, 6-3, 3-6, 6-2, and Laurendeau, ranked No. 416 in the world, defeated Jonathan Canter, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3.

At Montreal, Rosalyn Fairbank of South Africa used three service breaks in the third set to upset third-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the $390,000 Player’s Challenge.

The third-round match had been halted Thursday because of rain, after Sabatini won the first set and led, 1-0, in the second.

Fairbank fell behind, 4-2, when play resumed Friday but stormed back to win four straight games and take the second set, then won the third.

“She (Sabatini) counted me out already,” Fairbank said of her comeback. “That was a big mistake on her part.”

In other third-round matches, top-seeded Pam Shriver beat Gretchen Rush, 6-4, 6-1, and fourth-seeded Zina Garrison ousted Sara Gomer of Great Britain, 6-4, 6-4.

Second-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador advanced to the semifinals of the $174,000 Austrian Open at Kitzbuhel, beating 10th-seeded Tomas Smid of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 6-3.