Tennis Roundup : Zvereva Upsets Navratilova in Straight Sets at Montreal

Natalia Zvereva stayed more than a few steps ahead of top-seeded Martina Navratilova en route to a 6-1, 6-4 quarterfinal victory Friday night at the Player’s Challenge tournament in Montreal.

Navratilova, who at times shook her head in amazement at her opponent’s play, said: “It wasn’t that I didn’t try to win, but I didn’t leave my guts out there. There was no excuse for missing some of the shots I did.”

In the semifinals today, No. 6 Zvereva will play third-seeded Pam Shriver, who defeated Terry Phelps, 7-6, 6-4. Also advancing were second-seeded Chris Evert, who ousted Czechoslovakia’s Helena Sukova, 6-2, 6-1, and fourth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, who beat Lori McNeil, 6-3, 6-3.

At Livingston, N.J., 19-year-old Jeff Tarango of Manhattan Beach, who had won only one Grand Prix match before this week, eliminated second-seeded Slobodan Zivojinovic, 4-6, 7-6, 6-1, to reach the semifinals of the Mennen Cup championship.

In the featured match, top-seeded Andre Agassi of Las Vegas defeated No. 8 Matt Anger of Aptos, Calif., 6-4, 6-1.

At Mason, Ohio, Aaron Krickstein, seeded 12th, needed 2 hours 17 minutes to defeat Kevin Curren, and Anders Jarryd got past Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland before rain interrupted play at the Assn. of Tennis Professionals tournament.

Krickstein, of Grosse Pointe, Mich., outlasted 14th-seeded Curren of Austin, Tex., 6-3, 2-6, 7-6. Krickstein won the match on his eighth ace of the day, on his fifth match point. Eleventh-seeded Jarryd of Sweden won, 6-7, 6-3, 6-3.