Tennis Roundup : Paulus Holds Off Savchenko to Win in European Open

Defending champion Barbara Paulus of Austria struggled to a 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 victory over Larisa Savchenko of the Soviet Union in the quarterfinals of the European Open women’s tournament at Geneva, Switzerland.

Paulus took a 6-1, 5-2 lead and was two points from victory at 30-30 when Savchenko rallied to win the next six games.

Paulus regained control of the two-hour match in the third set.

Paulus, who beat Chris Evert in the second round, will meet fourth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain in today’s semifinals.

Belinda Cordwell of New Zealand forfeited her quarterfinal match against Martinez because of a recurring back injury.

Earlier, Bulgaria’s Manuela Maleeva, the No. 3-seeded player, scored a 6-4, 6-1 victory over former Stanford’s Elise Burgin.

In another quarterfinal, Laura Garonne of Italy defeated countrywoman Laura Lapi, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2. The unseeded Garonne, ranked 97th in the world, has not lost in four matches against Lapi. Garonne will be playing in her first semifinals of a major tournament today against Maleeva.

Top-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador defeated Omar Camporese, 6-3, 5-7, 6-1, of Italy and advanced to the semifinals of a tournament at Florence, Italy.

Gomez will play sixth-seeded Horacio De La Pena, who beat fourth-seeded Eduardo Bengoechea, 6-3, 6-1, in an all-Argentine quarterfinal.

Lawson Duncan, the No. 7-seeded player, reached the semifinals with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over unseeded Thierry Tulasne of France. Duncan will play the winner of the last quarterfinal match between third-seeded Luiz Mattar of Brazil and fifth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Yugoslavia.

Second-seeded Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia became the only seeded player left in the Strasbourg Open, beating Gretchen Magers, 6-2, 6-4, in the quarterfinals at Strasbourg, France.

Jo-Anne Faull of Australia beat third-seeded Susan Sloane, 6-2, 6-4; Wiltrud Probst of West Germany outlasted fourth-seeded Bettina Fulco of Argentina, 6-1, 4-6, 7-6, and Patricia Tarabini of Argentina defeated eighth-seeded Ann Grossman, 6-4, 6-1.

The Probst-Fulco match lasted more than three hours.