Tennis Roundup : Lendl Closes Fast, Wins German Title

Ivan Lendl won his 78th Grand Prix title Monday when he beat Horst Skoff of Austria, 6-4, 6-1, 6-3, in the rain-delayed final of the German Open at Hamburg, West Germany.

Lendl struggled in the opening set as Skoff, ranked 31st in the world, used his sharp, hard-hitting baseline play to move Lendl around the court and often catch him out of position.

“I should have won the first set, but unfortunately I was very tired,” Skoff said. “If you don’t put pressure on Lendl he will kill you.”

Unseeded 21-year-old Mark Koevermans of the Netherlands, ranked 98th in the world, upset third-seeded Kent Carlsson of Sweden, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the $1-million Italian Open at Rome.

In other matches, seventh-seeded Aaron Krickstein beat Andres Vysand of the Soviet Union, 6-3, 6-2; Fernando Luna of Spain surprised No. 16 seeded Mark Woodforde of Australia, 6-2, 6-3; Karel Novacek of Czechoslovakia downed Sergio Casal of Spain, 6-1, 6-2; Leonardo Lavalle of Mexico ousted Stefano Pescosolido of Italy, 6-4, 6-1, and Massimo Cierro of Italy beat Carlos DiLaura of Peru, 6-1, 6-1.

Noelle Porter of Pepperdine, an unseeded freshman, stunned top-seeded Tami Whitlinger of Stanford, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, in the first round of the National Collegiate Athletic Assn. championships individual tournament.

Porter, who played at San Clemente High School, later advanced into today’s round of 16 with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Susan Sabo of Duke.

Two other seeded players--No. 7 Shawn Foltz of Indiana and No. 8 Karen Shin of California--lost second-round matches. Shannan McCarthy of Georgia rallied past Foltz, 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, and Stephanie London of USC downed Shin, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.