TENNIS ROUNDUP : Chesnokov Overcomes Rain, Van Rensburg

Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union outlasted the rain and Christo van Rensburg of South Africa, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2, Friday and moved into the quarterfinals of the WCT Tournament of Champions at New York.

The second-round match began Thursday before rain washed out play on the hard courts at the West Side Tennis Club. At that time, Chesnokov led, 6-2, 2-1.

On Friday, Chesnokov and Van Rensburg took turns posting streaks in between frequent showers that interrupted play and sent the final second-round match to an indoor court in Bethpage, N.Y., 26 miles from Forest Hills.

In another second-round match, Aaron Krickstein outlasted Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1.

In the only quarterfinal match completed Friday, Emilio Sanchez of Spain defeated Patrick McEnroe, 6-3, 6-1.

Henri Leconte of France wasted three match points in his battle against Todd Martin of Lansing, Mich., before a heavy mist made the courts too slippery, and play was suspended for the night.

John McEnroe overcame six hours of rain delays to upset third-seeded Brad Gilbert, 6-3, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of the $250,000 Hamlet Challenge Cup at Commack, N.Y.

In another quarterfinal match, Guy Forget of France, seeded eighth, eliminated second-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 6-7 (7-4), 6-0, 7-5. The second set lasted only 21 minutes.

The matches of Stefan Edberg-Jonas Svensson and Pete Sampras-Goran Ivanisevic, delayed by the weather, will conclude today.

An ankle injury forced second-seeded Raffaella Reggi of Italy to retire from her quarterfinal match with unseeded Mercedes Paz of Argentina in a $225,000 tournament at Schenectady, N.Y.

Paz led Reggi, 6-1, 4-0, when the injury occurred.

Another quarterfinal match between Sylvia Hanika of West Germany and Anke Huber was shortened by injury when Hanika hurt her elbow and had to retire in the third set, which was tied at 2-2. Hanika won the first set, 6-4, but lost the second, 6-7.

In the quarterfinals of the $160,000 women’s tournament at Mahwah, N.J., Leila Meskhi of the Soviet Union upset fourth-seeded Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-2, 6-2.

Meskhi’s ground strokes forced Maleeva to commit numerous errors in the match that was forced indoors after being delayed by rain.

Meskhi will face top-seeded Steffi Graf in the semifinals today. Also, second-seeded Zina Garrison will third-seeded Jennifer Capriati.

Rain postponed second-round qualifying for the U.S. Open at New York. It was rescheduled for today.