Tennis Roundup : McEnroe Gains Quarterfinals at San Francisco

John McEnroe breezed into the quarterfinals of the $289,000 Transamerica Open tennis tournament at San Francisco Thursday night with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over John Letts.

Later, Jimmy Connors, seeded No. 2, defeated Peter Fleming, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

“I felt like I played reasonably well,” said McEnroe, a four-time champion of the event who was seeded only fourth this year following a 6 1/2-month layoff.

“The more I play, the more I’ll feel in the flow of the circuit. I just want to have fun with it.”

However, as in the past, McEnroe put his temper on display. He fumed at line judges and tossed his racket twice in disgust at his play.

Asked about the outbursts, he said: “I feel better about myself and happy with my life . . . eventually I think that will translate onto the court. But that will take time.”

Letts, 22, of Rolling Hills, was playing in the second round of a tour event for the first time. He beat McEnroe’s brother, Patrick, in a qualifying match. “It was hard for me to get in a good groove,” Letts said.

In another second-round match, No. 1-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden defeated Bud Schultz, 6-3, 6-2.

At Tulsa, Okla., second-seeded Laura Gildemeister of Peru conceded her match to Beth Herr after disputing several calls by the chair umpire during a Virginia Slims tournament.

Herr was leading, 6-0, 2-0, when Gildemeister walked off the court.

Kent Carlsson of Sweden beat Emilio Sanchez of Spain, 6-1, 3-6, 9-7, to advance to the quarterfinals of a $225,000 tournament at Barcelona, Spain.