Lendl Is Beaten by Edberg in Australia

Rejuvenated Wimbledon champion Stefan Edberg beat the world No. 2 Ivan Lendl 6-4, 6-4 today in the Rio International Tennis Challenge at Memorial Drive.

Both players are using the round-robin exhibition as a tune-up to the Australian Open, which starts Monday at the National Tennis Center in Melbourne.

In a sharp form reversal following his first-match loss to Australia’s Mark Woodforde on Wednesday night, Edberg defeated Lendl in only 56 minutes.

In another match today, world No. 1 Mats Wilander of Sweden defeated Australia’s Pat Cash 7-5, 4-6, 7-6.

Edberg and Lendl are seeded to meet in the semifinals of the Australian Open, and today’s victory should give the Swede a big psychological boost.

The victory put Edberg into the tournament final Saturday night.

Edberg broke Lendl’s serve in the fifth game of the first set and held on without trouble to win the set.

“I think the key to it was that I served very well,” Edberg said.

“The main thing is to gradually build up, as you want to be playing your best by the end of the Australian Open.”

Despite the loss, Lendl was unconcerned.

“I’m not worried; the court here is completely different to the one in Melbourne,” Lendl said.

Synthetic Rebound Ace is used both at Adelaide and Melbourne, but the players have said the Adelaide surface is much faster.

In the $350,000 New South Wales Open at Sydney, Martina Navratilova, the world’s No. 2 women’s player, easily won a quarterfinal match, but defending champion Pam Shriver was upset today.

Navratilova, the top seed for the tournament, was too strong for compatriot Patty Fendick, winning their center court match 6-1, 6-1.

But Shriver, the second seed and ranked fifth in the world, was beaten by 16th-seeded compatriot Terry Phelps 6-3, 6-3.