TENNIS AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Wilander Has a Hot Time Against Becker

Three-time champion Mats Wilander upset Boris Becker, as defending champion Ivan Lendl and Stefan Edberg overcame heat, wild winds and eager, young opponents today (Wednesday) to reach the semifinals of the Australian Open.

Becker, the No. 2 seed, lost to the eighth-ranked Wilander, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Lendl, his legionnaire’s hat flapping and his groundstrokes cutting through winds that knocked over table umbrellas, beat Andrei Cherkasov, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, on the partially enclosed stadium center court.

Edberg, the only hatless player of the day, had to cope with even crazier winds on Court One and a more difficult challenger in American serve-and-volleyer David Wheaton. The third-seeded player, who warmed up for the match by playing nearly four hours in the heat Tuesday, beat Wheaton, 7-5, 7-6, (7-4), 3-6, 6-2.

At least 50 fans among the crowd of about 20,000 were treated for heat exhaustion, but none were seriously ill, officials said.

The temperature on the rubber-bottomed hard courts was 115 degrees, down from the 140 degrees on Tuesday. But the dry, hot winds of up to 35 m.p.h. played havoc with baseline shots. Away from the court, which holds and reflects heat, the temperature reached 99 degrees.

Wilander whipped strong passing shots by the net-charging Becker, who grew increasingly frustrated and finally backed up to the baseline and began playing Wilander’s style.

Like a crafty counter-puncher taking apart a wild-swinging fighter, Wilander, 25, calmly took the 22-year-old Becker’s measure in a 2-hour 15-minute clinic.

The victory over Becker, who won his third Wimbledon title and first U.S. Open title last year, gave Wilander a large dose of satisfaction after his straight-sets trouncing by the West German in the Davis Cup finals in December.

Becker had won six of their previous eight matches before Wednesday, losing only on the clay at the French Open.

The loss by Becker stalled his drive to catch up to No. 1 Lendl, and left him wondering about a jinx in the Australian, where he has never gone past the quarters in five appearances.

“The wind was a hot wind,” Lendl said. “It was pretty bad. It’s not a nice way to play. I didn’t want to have to be out there for five sets.”

Wheaton, 20, of Deephaven, Minn., stayed even with Edberg until being broken for the first time in the 11th game of the first set on a backhand that drifted long and wide in the breeze.

Edberg, pumping his fist after the break in what was for him a big demonstration of emotion, served out the set and raised both arms in triumph.

“It felt good,” he said. “I had to get pumped up.”

He then won the first four games of the second set. During the second changeover, Edberg was nearly hit when the umbrella-topped table he was sitting under went flying.

The fourth quarterfinal match was to pit 12th-ranked Yannick Noah of France against Mikael Pernfors, the Swedish-born former NCAA champion at Georgia who benefited from the default of John McEnroe.

If there was an award for durability, it would go to the winners of the longest doubles match in Australian Open history--South Africans Pieter Aldrich and Danie Visser, who outlasted Californians Scott Davis and Robert Van’t Hof in a 5-hour 29-minute match.

Aldrich and Visser’s winning score was 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 23-21.

The match, which began in the hottest part of the day and ended in the balmy evening, was 19 minutes longer than a five-set, 84-game marathon won two years ago by Andrew Castle and Roberto Saad against Glenn Michibata and Grant Connell.