International Players Tennis Championships : Navratilova Wins Easily, Meets Graf in Semifinals

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova and Ivan Lendl led the way Tuesday, storming to easy victories in the $1.8-million International Players Championships.

Navratilova blitzed Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-1, 6-1, in 53 minutes to move into the women’s semifinals, where she will meet third-seeded Steffi Graf of West Germany, who disposed of Lisa Bonder in 36 minutes, 6-0, 6-1.

Lendl defeated 16th-seeded Brad Gilbert, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4, to reach the men’s quarterfinals.

His next opponent will be Jay Berger, who upset 10th-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Fourth-seeded Yannick Noah of France, fifth-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden, sixth-seeded Jimmy Connors, ninth-seeded Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia and Derrick Rostagno also won fourth-round matches.

In the toughest match of the day, Wilander outlasted 12th-seeded Tim Mayotte, 3-6, 6-3, 7-5, 6-7, 6-4, in 3 hours 51 minutes.

Connors, who walked off the court in last year’s semifinals after arguing a line call, dominated Johan Carlsson of Sweden, 6-0, 6-1, 6-0, in 64 minutes.

Noah shut out Johan Kriek in the fourth-set tiebreaker to win their rain-interrupted match, 4-6, 6-2, 6-3, 7-6, and Mecir downed Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia, 2-6, 6-1, 6-4, 6-4.

Rostagno, who got through the first round in a walkover when third-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany came down with a stomach ailment, has been making his own breaks since. Tuesday, he defeated Robert Seguso, 6-4, 6-7, 6-3, 6-4.

In women’s play, second-seeded Chris Evert Lloyd, fourth-seeded Hana Mandlikova and sixth-seeded Helena Sukova moved into the quarterfinals.

Lloyd had to work a little harder than she expected in a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Stephanie Rehe. Mandlikova beat 12th-seeded Bettina Bunge, 6-2, 6-4, and Sukova completed a rain-delayed 5-7, 7-5, 7-5 victory over 13th-seeded Lori McNeil.