Lendl, Becker Advance to German Semifinals; Jimmy Connors Ousted

Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker, the top two seeds, today reached the semifinals of the German Open men’s tennis tournament.

Jimmy Connors was ousted by Carl-Uwe Steeb of West Germany, 6-4, 6-1.

Lendl beat Jonas Svensson of Sweden 6-2, 6-2, while Becker advanced when his quarterfinal opponent, Paolo Cane of Italy, defaulted because of a strained hamstring.

In Saturday’s semifinals, Becker will play Horst Skoff of Austria, who beat Michael Westphal of West Germany 6-1, 6-3 in another quarterfinal match today.

Lendl will meet Steeb.

Steeb broke Connors’ serve in the opening game and never trailed.

Connors regained the break in the sixth game, helped by a netcord roll. Although the 36-year-old American broke Steeb’s serve twice more, he was not able to hold his own again in the match.

Lendl is the top seed in the $692,500 Nabisco Grand Prix clay-court tournament, and Becker is No. 2. The seedings reflect their world rankings.

“He is so pumped up after winning the Tournament of Champions, he is playing very well,” Coach Tony Roche said of Lendl. “He is looking forward to the French Open.”

Lendl won the Tournament of Champions in Monte Carlo last week without losing a set in five matches. It was his fourth title of the year.

He has not lost a set in three matches in the German Open, losing only six games in the last two.

Svensson, ranked 21st in the world, upset Lendl in the quarterfinals of the French Open last year, but the had little chance against Lendl today.

“I don’t have trouble motivating myself. I like winning,” Lendl said after beating Svensson in 1 hour, 18 minutes.

Becker has demonstrated a new-found confidence on clay courts in winning his first two matches in this tournament.

“To take over the No. 1 spot from Lendl, I have to play well on clay,” he said.

Becker, 21, won Wimbledon titles in 1985 and 1986 but has not won a tournament on clay. He has climbed back to the No. 2 ranking after a three-years absence.

In Rome, France’s Nathalie Tauziat scored her second straight upset victory today, beating No. 7 seed Judith Wienser of Austria 1-6, 6-2, 6-2 in a quarterfinal match in the $300,000 Italian Open.

In another quarterfinal match, fourth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez of Spain trounced Sabrina Goles of Yugoslavia 6-0, 6-3 in 50 minutes. Sanchez will play Tauziat in the semifinals Saturday.

Tauziat, the No. 14 seed, had reached the quarterfinals by upsetting second-seeded Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria on Thursday.