Australian Open Tennis : Lendl Struggles Into Quarterfinals With a Four-Set Victory Over Goldie

Top-seeded Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia survived a nerve-wracking battle with unseeded American Dan Goldie today before advancing to the quarterfinals of the $1.65 million Australian Open.

The world’s No. 1-ranked player eventually won, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6, 6-3, after struggling for almost three hours.

Goldie, the reigning NCAA champion from McLean, Va., romped through the first set and kept Lendl on his toes throughout the match.

The 23-year-old former Stanford star held four set points in the third set before Lendl finally assumed control by winning the tiebreaker, 9-7.

Lendl, trying to win a Grand Slam event on grass for the first time, found his top form only in the final set.

Goldie, disgusted at losing, angrily threw his racket to the ground after failing to stave off a fifth match point in the fourth set.

The American had returned serve superbly and served well, but Lendl’s nerve held on the crucial points.

Meanwhile, Boris Becker has asked for a postponement of his fourth-round match.

Becker, seeded second behind Lendl, is suffering from an ear and throat infection, officials said.

The two-time Wimbledon champion from West Germany is due to meet Australian Wally Masur in the fourth round on Tuesday.

On Sunday, Americans Paul Annacone and Derrick Rostagno eliminated seeded players, sparking a day of upsets.

Annacone rallied to oust fifth-seeded Henri Leconte of France, 1-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 10-8, in a three-hour, third-round match, while Rostagno beat seventh-seeded Brad Gilbert, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-1.

Australian Peter Doohan, ranked 297th in the world, also scored a big upset, beating former Wimbledon and Australian Open finalist Kevin Curren, seeded eighth, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4.

Elizabeth Smylie of Australia shocked fourth-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia, 7-5, 3-6, 7-5, in the fourth round of the women’s singles after trailing 1-4 in the final set.

Defending champion Martina Navratilova joined Smylie in the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-1 victory over Janine Thompson of Australia. Also reaching the final eight were second-seeded Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia and third-seeded Pam Shriver.

Navratilova expressed satisfaction with her form.

“I feel right where I want to be and I’m getting better all the time,” she said. “I was very sharp today.”

Mandlikova beat 12th-seeded Carling Bassett of Canada, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, while Shriver overpowered 14th-seeded Jo Durie of Britain, 6-1, 6-2.

Third-seeded Yannick Noah of France led a group of seeded men into the final 16 with a 7-6, 4-6, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4 victory over Bud Schultz in a 3 1/2-hour match.

Pat Cash of Australia, seeded 11th, eliminated Ben Testerman, 6-3, 6-7, 6-1, 6-2, and 13th-seeded Robert Seguso downed Javier Frana of Argentina, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Annacone will play Cash in the next round, and Rostagno will meet unseeded New Zealander Kelly Evernden, who defeated former UCLA star Brad Pearce, 6-2, 6-4, 6-4.

Australian left-hander Mark Kratzmann defeated U.S. Davis Cup doubles specialist Ken Flach, 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, in the only other men’s singles played Sunday. He will next face sixth-seeded Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia.

In other women’s singles Sunday, No. 10 Catarina Lindqvist of Sweden defeated No. 6 Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-3, 6-3, and No. 5 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany ousted compatriot Sylvia Hanika, 6-3, 6-1.

Also, seventh-seeded Zina Garrison beat 11th-seeded Wendy Turnbull of Australia, 6-1, 6-3, while eighth-seeded Lori McNeil rallied from 1-5 down in the first set to down Anne Hobbs of Britain, 7-6, 6-3.