D.C. Tennis Tournament : Connors, Krickstein Winners

Top-seeded Jimmy Connors beat Jimmy Brown, 6-2, 6-3, Wednesday, and fourth-seeded Aaron Krickstein overpowered qualifier Bret Garnett, 6-0, 6-2, in a rain-soaked second round of the $232,050 D.C. Tennis tournament.

Third-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador had to wait more than two hours before registering a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Andrew Burrow.

Michael Chang, 16, playing just ahead of the rain, scored the second upset of the day, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3, over 12th-seeded Jim Pugh.

Connors, less than two months from his 36th birthday, looked to be in easy control of Brown when he won four straight games in the first set and played a steady baseline game to take a 3-1 second-set lead. He handed a key break to Brown with three double-faults, however to set up a 3-3 deadlock in the 100-degree heat.

“I just had one game” with problems, said Connors, who has been the runner-up in two tournaments this year. “I thought I hit the ball OK and I thought I took the heat pretty good too.”