U.S. Open Tennis Roundup : Jimmy Connors, 33, Outlasts Teen-Ager

Jimmy Connors, looking his age, came up with the big points when needed to defeat 19-year-old Claudio Pistolesi of Italy, 7-6, 6-4, 7-5, Friday and move into the third round of the U.S. Open Tennis Championships at Flushing Meadow, N.Y.

Connors, who will turn 34 before this two-week tournament concludes and has won this Grand Slam title five times, was joined in the victory ranks by Tom Gullikson, the oldest man in the tournament who will turn 35 on Sept. 8.

Gullikson, whose career highlights have come in doubles competition, upset 10th-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador 3-6, 6-7, 7-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Besides Connors and Gullikson, other men’s singles winners Friday included four Swedes--No. 2 Mats Wilander, No. 4 Stefan Edberg, No. 7 Joakim Nystrom and No. 13 Anders Jarryd--and No. 16 Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia.

Seeded women to advance into the third round included No. 6 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany, No. 7 Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia, No. 9 Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria, No. 12 Zina Garrison and No. 14 Catarina Lindqvist of Sweden.

In late matches, six-time women’s winner Chris Evert Lloyd beat Regina Marsikova, 6-0, 6-0, in 32 minutes, and West Germany’s Boris Becker, the reigning men’s Wimbledon champion, took on Brazil’s Cassio Motta.

Wilander defeated France’s Thierry Tulasne, 6-1, 7-5, 6-4; Edberg outlasted Kevin Curren, 7-6, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Nystrom downed Czechoslovakia’s Pavel Slozil, 6-2, 6-1, 6-0; Jarryd eliminated Luke Jensen, 6-0, 6-3, 6-1, and Mecir ousted Guy Forget of France, 7-5, 6-4, 6-1.

Kohde-Kilsch crushed Catherine Tanvier of France, 6-1, 6-0; Sukova downed Britain’s Sara Gomer, 7-5, 7-5; Maleeva defeated Peru’s Laura Gildemeister, 6-3, 6-1; Garrison stopped West Germany’s Eva Pfaff, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1, and Lindqvist defeated Australia’s Amanda Dingwall, 6-2, 6-3.

Connors seemed to be a step late against Pistolesi, last year’s top-ranked junior who celebrated a birthday four days ago. Yet, the veteran was able to come up with the winning shots when he needed them.

Pistolesi broke Connors’ service in the third game, then lost his own service in the eighth. It was the veteran who finished on top in the tiebreaker, 7-3.

Connors pulled off the only break of service in the second set, then took a lead in the third set when he broke the Italian teen-ager in the seventh game. But Pistolesi broke right back.