TENNIS ROUNDUP : Noah Ends Long Title Drought by Defeating Steeb in 3 Sets

Yannick Noah of France defeated Carl-Uwe Steeb of West Germany, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, to win the men’s championship in the $400,000 New South Wales Open Sunday at Sydney.

It was Noah’s first victory in nearly two years and came only three months after he considered retirement. The match took two hours.

“It could have gone either way,” said Noah, who was seeded eighth. He rallied from 3-4 to win the last three games and cap a tournament in which he beat Ivan Lendl, the world’s top-ranked player, in the quarterfinals, and defending champion Aaron Krickstein in the semifinals.

Noah, 29, praised his new coach, Dennis Ralston, a former U.S. Davis Cup captain, for “getting the fire back” in his play.

The victory was Noah’s first since upsetting Jimmy Connors at Milan, Italy, in February, 1988. He earned $21,600. Steeb, seeded seventh, got $12,720.

“I feel great,” Noah said. “It’s been a long time since I won a tournament and now I just want to enjoy it.

“Last year was the first that I didn’t win anything. This proves all the work I have been doing has been worth it.”

Earlier, the Soviet Union’s Natalia Zvereva, seeded 11th, rallied to beat Austrian Barbara Paulus, 4-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the one-hour 45-minute women’s final.

It was Zvereva’s second tournament victory. Last week, she won the Queensland Open at Brisbane.

Scott Davis upset top-seeded Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, to win the $175,000 New Zealand Open at Auckland.