Tennis Roundup : Struggling Becker Smashes Racket in Anger--but Wins

Boris Becker smashed a racket in anger en route to a tough second-round win over Australian John Fitzgerald in the $350,000 Australian Indoor tennis championships Thursday at Sydney, Australia.

Becker startled the big gallery of 6,000 at the Sydney Entertainment Center with a rare display of temper as he struggled toward a 6-4, 7-5 victory. In the 11th game of the second set, Becker slipped while trying to charge from the baseline and slammed his racket down on the plexipaved surface.

In another match, top-seeded Ivan Lendl also advanced to the quarterfinals by beating Australian Peter Carter, 6-4, 6-4.

At Filderstadt, West Germany, top-seeded Martina Navratilova swept past Annabel Croft of Britain, 6-2, 6-0, to reach the third round of the $175,000 Porsche Grand Prix tournament.

It was career victory No. 1,001 for Navratilova.

In other matches, Catarina Lindquist of Sweden routed Terry Phelps, 6-0, 6-1; Zina Garrison outlasted Raffaella Reggi of Italy, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3; second-seeded Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia struggled before overcoming Bettina Bunge of West Germany, 6-1, 6-7, 6-1, and fourth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina cruised into the third round with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Sabrina Goles of Yugoslavia.

At Tokyo, top-seeded David Pate beat Jim Grabb, 6-4, 6-4, to advance to the quarterfinals in the $195,000 Japan Asian Open.

In other third-round matches, unseeded Mike Depalmer upset third-seeded Matt Anger, 7-5, 6-3, and unseeded Johan Carlsson of Sweden, who eliminated second-seeded Jimmy Arias Wednesday, needed two tiebreakers before defeating Derrick Rostagno, 7-6, 7-6.