McEnroe Argues but Makes Quarterfinals : Chang Defeated at Wimbledon; Evert, Wilander, Edberg, Graf Advance

John McEnroe argued with officials, then overpowered Australian John Fitzgerald today to reach the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.

Defending champions Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf advanced in straight sets, while Tim Mayotte ended Placentia teen-ager Michael Chang’s hopes of adding Wimbledon to his French Open title.

Graf crushed Monica Seles, the 15-year-old Yugoslav, 6-0, 6-1 in 44 minutes.

But the focus was on McEnroe, who displayed the best of his tennis and a glimpse of his famous temper.

As police investigated a fourth death threat against him, McEnroe complained about line calls and a humming courtside refrigerator but beat Fitzgerald 6-3, 0-6, 6-4, 6-4. The second set was the first time McEnroe ever lost at love at Wimbledon.

His next opponent is fourth-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden. It will be the first quarterfinal at Wimbledon since 1985 for McEnroe, who skipped the tournament in 1986 and 1987 and was eliminated in the second round last year.

No details were released by police concerning the latest death threat, and it was not known whether McEnroe knew of the threat when he took the court.

McEnroe and umpire Rudi Berger of West Germany clashed over a double fault in the first set, as Fitzgerald came back from 4-0 to 4-3.

“Nice call, Rudi!” McEnroe shouted on a changeover. The tempo picked up from there.

On the next game, McEnroe thought that Fitzgerald, as server, failed to show the new set of tennis balls just put into play. He started prowling the base line, and Fitzgerald complained. McEnroe continued to walk, and Berger warned him for unsportsmanlike conduct.

McEnroe broke for 5-3 but continued to mutter, both at the umpire and at Fitzgerald. He served out the set, avoiding a Fitzgerald point-blank volley at the net, which landed long.

On the changeover, McEnroe told Berger that he was bothered by a humming sound from the refrigerator that holds drinks and tennis balls. He also apologized to Berger and tournament supervisor Ken Ferrar after they told him that Fitzgerald had held up the new balls.

That apology, and an apparent back problem, seemed to take the wind out of McEnroe. He dropped the second set at love, getting just 8 points, and the first game of the third set. Still bending and stretching his back, McEnroe then changed character again.

He held for 1-1, then broke for a 4-3 lead. His old touch was back, his serve was in gear and Fitzgerald was staggering.

Mayotte, the eighth seed, reached the quarterfinals for the fifth time by beating the 17-year-old Chang, the ninth seed, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3.

Edberg and Wilander reached the round of eight with easy victories, as did eight-time women’s winner Martina Navratilova and three-time champion Chris Evert.

Spanish teen-ager Arantxa Sanchez, the French Open women’s winner and the seventh seed, struggled before beating error-plagued Lori McNeil in three sets, adding to her reputation as an all-court player.

Three other women’s seeds fell to unseeded opponents.

Catarina Lundqvist of Sweden beat No. 6 Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia 6-4, 7-6; Laura Golarsa of Italy beat another Czechoslovak, 10th-seeded Jana Novotna, 7-6, 2-6, 6-4; and Rosalyn Fairbank beat 12th-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez of the United States 6-4, 2-6, 6-0.

It was the second victory over a seeded player in three rounds for the unseeded Fairbank, a California-based South African who ousted No. 3 Gabriela Sabatini in the second round.

Others advancing in matches between unseeded players including Americans Dan Goldie and Gretchen Magers.

Chang, the first American in 34 years to win the French Open, has been winning by adapting to grass courts from the base line and out-hustling opponents. But he couldn’t shake Mayotte and broke his serve only once, to reach 2-2 in the first set.

Mayotte dominated with his serve the rest of the way and he scored repeatedly with drop shots and drop volleys. Chang ran down a lot of them but could only shovel them into the net.

Chang also made a series of uncharacteristic errors off his backhand and went down in 1 hour, 43 minutes, when Mayotte hit a forehand cross-court passing shot to complete a service break at love.