Tennis Roundup : Noah Feels Right at Home and Routs Forget, 6-1, 6-1

Yannick Noah has found a home and a haven in New York.

Noah, a citizen of France, credited his home away from home with helping him reach the quarterfinals of the $615,000 Shearson Lehman Brothers Tournament of Champions Thursday with a 6-1, 6-1 rout of Guy Forget, also of France.

“It’s so unusual where you can play a tournament and sleep in your bed,” said Noah, the defending champion who is seeded second. “I can play, go home, listen to my records and see friends. It’s better to be home than in a hotel.”

In other matches, Aaron Krickstein ousted eighth-seeded Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-4; Paul Annacone downed Andreas Maurer of West Germany, 6-4, 6-4; fourth-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador defeated Barry Moir of South Africa, 6-3, 6-4; sixth-seeded Martin Jaite of Argentina ousted Jay Berger, 6-3, 6-3; seventh-seeded Guillermo Vilas of Argentina edged Marty Davis, 7-5, 7-6, and 12th-seeded Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia eliminated qualifier Martin Wostenholme of Canada, 6-3, 6-0.

Top-seeded Boris Becker had a difficult time with Argentina’s Horacio de la Pena before pulling out a 6-4, 7-6 win Thursday night.

Martina Navratilova, seeded No. 1, overpowered Radka Zrubakova of Czechoslovakia, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the quarterfinals of the $150,000 Italian Open at Rome.

Earlier, second-seeded Steffi Graf of West Germany beat Annamaria Cecchini of Italy, 6-1, 7-5. In other matches, third-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia beat Natalie Bykova of the Soviet Union, 7-6, 6-0; fourth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina downed Mary Joe Fernandez, 6-1, 6-3; fifth-seeded Claudia Kohde-Kilsch routed Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-2, 6-1; Arantxa Sanchez of Spain ousted Isabel Cueto of West Germany, 6-3, 6-1, and Bettina Fulco beat Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-4, 7-6.

Top-seeded Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia beat Robin White, 6-4, 6-1, in the first round of the $200,000 Gunze World tournament at Kobe, Japan. In another women’s match, Zina Garrison beat Stephanie Rehe, 6-4, 6-2, and in a men’s match, Scott Davis outlasted Brad Gilbert, 6-3, 5-7, 7-5.