TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Becker and Graf Advance; Garrison Upset

Neither Boris Becker nor Steffi Graf nor Zina Garrison had an easy time in the heat at the Australian Open.

Becker had to go five sets. Graf nearly lost a set for the first time in the tournament.

Only Garrison wilted.

The third-seeded woman fell to Mary Joe Fernandez, 1-6, 6-2, 8-6, today (Tuesday) in the quarterfinals at the National Tennis Center, where the temperature on court was said to be well above 100 degrees.

“It’s pretty frustrating. I don’t understand it sometimes,” said Garrison, who appeared to have a clear run to the final after an injury forced No. 2 Gabriela Sabatini to withdraw.

Garrison was serving for the match at 5-4 and 6-5 in the third set, but her serve was broken each time and then broken again at love when the sixth-seeded Fernandez won the match.

“I work very hard, but I never seem able to make my breaks,” said Garrison, a Houston native who was a semifinalist at last year’s U.S. Open. “Until I do, I don’t deserve to win. (This was) a match I think I lost. It was in my hands and I didn’t take advantage of it. More than anything, I wanted to win. Sometimes you want to win too bad.”

Meanwhile, Graf had her toughest challenge of the tournament before turning back Patty Fendick of Sacramento, 6-3, 7-5. That tied Graf’s career-best winning streak with a 46th consecutive victory.

Fendick had a 5-2 lead and a set point on Graf’s serve in the second set, but Graf held and allowed Fendick only four points in the next four games.

Becker survived a tougher test. Down a service break in the third set to Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia, Becker stormed back to win, 4-6, 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, and reach the quarterfinals against Mats Wilander.

“I was quite astonished I got out of it,” Becker said.

It was the third time in recent months that Becker has come back from two sets down--the first time against Derrick Rostagno in the second round of the U.S. Open, the second time against Andre Agassi in Davis Cup play.

“You have to tell yourself not to go down,” Becker said. “If I go down, the other guy has to beat me. So it’s first a struggle against yourself. That’s the first fight you have to win, and then your opponent.”