Lendl, Becker Beaten in New South Wales Open

Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker, preparing for next week’s Australian Open, were beaten today in the quarterfinals of the New South Wales Open.

West German Carl-Uwe Steeb downed Becker, his Davis Cup teammate, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, and Yannick Noah played brilliantly to frustrate Lendl and cruise to a 6-1, 6-4 win.

Lendl and Becker, the world’s top-ranked players, were using the tournament to fine-tune their games for the Australian Open, which begins Monday in Melbourne.

Steeb, who four weeks ago teamed up with Becker to give West Germany a second straight Davis Cup title, beat his compatriot with clinical precision, while Noah overpowered Lendl.

Noah now faces defending champion Aaron Krickstein of the United States, a 6-1, 7-6 (7-3) winner over American qualifier David Wheaton.

Steeb, ranked 16th in the world, will play fifth-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden, who downed American Pete Sampras 6-7 (4-7), 7-5, 6-0 in his quarterfinal.

In the women’s quarterfinals, Austrians Barbara Paulus and Judith Wiesner, American teen-ager Amy Frazier and Natalia Zvereva of the Soviet Union advanced.

In Adelaide, Australia, meanwhile, John McEnroe struggled for nearly two hours Friday night before beating fellow American Jim Courier and advancing to the final of the Rio Challenge exhibition tennis tournament at Memorial Drive.

McEnroe won 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 to finish on top of the blue group in the round-robin event with a 2-0 record. Frenchman Henri Leconte was 1-1, and Courier was 0-2.

The left-hander next plays Sweden’s Stefan Edberg, ranked third in the world.

Masters champion Edberg was given a tough match by Austrian Thomas Muster before winning 7-6 (7-4), 6-7 (5-7), 6-2.

In Auckland, New Zealand, defending champion Ramesh Krishnan of India upset third-seeded Swede Magnus Gustafsson 7-6 (7-5), 6-2 today and advanced to the semifinals of the New Zealand Open tennis championship.

Krishnan earned a meeting Saturday with eighth-seeded American Scott Davis, a 6-2, 7-6 (7-0) winner over New Zealand veteran Steven Guy.

Also advancing to the semifinals were top seed Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union and 1988 champion Amos Mansdorf of Israel. Chesnokov ousted Canadian Grant Connell 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, while Mansdorf beat American Jimmy Arias 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).