Tennis Roundup : Shriver and Fendick Win Twice, Advance to Semifinals in Australia

Top-seeded Pam Shriver lost only nine games in two matches Friday to advance to the semifinals of a $150,000 women’s tennis tournament at Brisbane, Australia.

Patty Fendick, the reigning two-time NCAA champion from Stanford, was the tournament’s surprise, winning another semifinal berth.

Shriver, ranked No. 4 in the world, beat Radka Zrubakova of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 6-2, in her opening match, carried over from a rain delay, then swept past West Germany’s Claudia Porwik, 6-2, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.

Shriver, of Lutherville, Md., will play third-seeded Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany in one semifinal today on the grass at Milton Court, while 11th-seeded Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia will meet the unseeded Fendick in the other semifinal.

In quarterfinal matches Friday, Kohde-Kilsch downed Manon Bollegraf of the Netherlands, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2; Fendick, of Sacramento, ousted Pascale Paradis of France, 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, and Novotna overcame first-set jitters to beat Sylvia Hanika of West Germany, 7-6, 6-1.

Shriver, who started the week by dropping a set to New Zealander Julie Richardson, dominated both of her matches Friday with her superior power and volley game.

“I think I only played one bad game today and that was when I lost my opening service game to Porwik,” Shriver said. “I know that if I play this brand of tennis, I will be tough to beat.”

In contrast, Kohde-Kilsch struggled against Bollegraf. Ranked 15th in the world, the West German lost her way in the second set but was able to fight back, aided by 13 double faults by Bollegraf.

Fendick’s steady, all-court game enabled her to oust erratic Paradis, who earlier in the week had upset second-seeded Helena Sokova of Czechoslovakia.

Earlier Friday, Fendick downed her doubles partner, Jill Hetherington of Canada, 6-3, 6-1.

“It feels good to have reached the semifinals,” Fendick said. “And I was not worried about playing two matches today. Compared to the collegiate tennis schedule, this is a piece of cake.”

Defending champion Wally Masur of Australia defeated unseeded countryman Roger Rasheed, 6-1, 4-6, 6-4, at Adelaide, Australia, to reach the semifinals of the $93,400 South Australian Open.

Johan Anderson, a 16-year-old Swede now living in Sydney, also moved into the semifinals with a 7-5, 7-5 victory over Joey Rive.

In other matches, third-seeded Mark Woodforde of Australia beat Patrick Baur of West Germany, 6-4, 1-6, 6-1, and John Fitzgerald of Australia ousted Bud Schultz, 6-4, 5-7, 6-4.