Lendl Shows His Old Form, Sweeps Leconte

Ivan Lendl, showing his best form in two weeks, defeated Henri Leconte of France 6-2, 6-3 today in the quarterfinals of the $255,000 Passing Shot men’s tennis tournament.

In other quarterfinals, France’s Jean-Philippe Fleurian continued his string of upsets, beating Goran Prpic of Yugoslavia, the No. 5 seed, 6-2, 6-3, and Emilio Sanchez beat Spanish compatriot Tomas Carbonell 6-0, 6-2.

Jaime Yzaga, the No. 4 seed from Peru, beat Brazilian Casio Motta 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 and will meet Lendl in the semifinals.

Lendl, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, has been erratic in the last two weeks. The Czech lost in the semifinals of the Barcelona tournament last week and struggled in the early rounds in Bordeaux.

‘Hit the Ball Hard’

“I was very pleased today,” Lendl said. “I hit the ball hard for two sets and I kept up the pace for two. I felt I played well. Some of it has to do with Henri. He hits the ball hard, so it was easy for me to get in the groove.”

He dominated Leconte, a former French Open finalist, from the start in beating him for the sixth straight time. Leconte is on the comeback trail after a back operation in April.

“Ivan was playing well, and there was nothing much I could do,” Leconte said.

Earlier in the tournament, Fleurian beat No. 3 seed Horst Skoff of Austria. He is ranked 111th in the world.

“I was afraid at the start because Goran was playing perfectly,” Fleurian said. “Then I started varying and lengthening my shots.”

At Brisbane, Australia, Scott Warner of Los Angeles defeated Australian Peter Doohan 6-4, 6-3 today in the semifinals of a qualifying tournament for next week’s $180,000 Queensland Open.

In the finals, Warner will play Australia’s Todd Woodbridge, a Wimbledon junior finalist this year.