Lendl, Becker Advance to Quarterfinals

Ivan Lendl trounced Patrick Kuehnen of West Germany 6-1, 6-1 and Boris Becker routed Martin Jaite of Argentina 6-2, 6-2 as the top seeds breezed into the quarterfinals of the German Open men’s tennis tournament today.

The top-seeded Lendl, ranked No. 1 in the world and seeking his fifth Grand Prix title of the year, needed only 56 minutes to beat Kuehnen, a member of West Germany’s Davis Cup team. He dominated Kuehnen with powerful ground strokes.

Becker, seeded second and playing with a new-found confidence on clay courts, was nearly as effective in sweeping past Jaite in 80 minutes.

Fought for Every Point

American veteran Jimmy Connors battled to a 7-5, 3-6, 7-5 victory over Sergio Bruguera of Spain to reach the final eight.

Connors, at 36 twice Bruguera’s age, relied on his experience to beat the Spanish teen-ager while having to fight for every point.

Becker broke Jaite for a 3-1 lead in the second set and was never in trouble. Jaite saved two match points with an ace and scoring with an overhead smash. But Becker then rushed to the net and put the match away with a volley.

In Rome, the two players expected to challenge Gabriela Sabatini for the title in the Italian Open women’s tennis championship lost third-round matches today.

No.-2 seed Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria was beaten by France’s Nathalie Tauziat 2-6, 6-3, 6-0, and Canada’s Helen Kelesi, the No.-3 seed, lost 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 to 10th-seeded Bettina Fulco of Argentina.