Women’s Tennis : Navratilova Serves Up Victory; Meskhi, Zrubakova Score Upsets

Martina Navratilova swept into the quarterfinals of the $300,000 Family Circle Magazine Cup tennis tournament Thursday, defeating Catarina Lindqvist of Sweden, 6-4, 6-2, on a day when unseeded players scored a pair of upsets.

Leila Meskhi of the Soviet Union defeated fifth-seeded Lori McNeil, 6-1, 6-2, and Radka Zrubakova of Czechoslovakia ousted No. 6 Helen Kelesi of Canada, 6-7 (10-8), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).

In other action, No. 7 Arantxa Sanchez of Spain prevailed over Jana Pospisilova of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, and No. 8 Hana Mandlikova of Australia defeated No. 11 Bettina Fulco of Argentina, 6-1, 6-2.

The second-seeded Navratilova, who will play Mandlikova today, said her serve was the strongest it has been on clay in five years. She held her serve throughout the 57-minute match, never allowing Lindqvist to reach break point.

Mandlikova was also satisfied with her performance.

“I didn’t play last year here and I didn’t play for a year and a half on clay. So I’m pleased with the way I played here,” she said.

The McNeil-Meskhi match featured long baseline rallies. When McNeil tried to play more aggressively, she misplayed short returns at the net three times on game points.