Wilander’s Comeback Suffers a Setback : Australian Open: He is eliminated by Yzaga, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1.

Mats Wilander knew how to beat Jaime Yzaga, he just wasn’t able to do it.

Wilander, hoping to give his comeback a big boost by winning his fourth Australian Open title, was beaten by the Peruvian, 7-5, 2-6, 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, Monday.

“The way to beat him is to keep the pressure on him, and I didn’t do that,” Wilander said. “I’m not particularly satisfied with today, but overall I’m pretty pleased.”

In other fourth-round matches, Guy Forget of France downed Todd Woodbridge of Australia, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, Boris Becker of Germany rolled past Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, and Goran Prpic of Yugoslavia outlasted Jan Siemerink of the Netherlands, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-3), 6-0, 7-6 (9-7).

In the fourth-round of the women’s draw, Monica Seles of Yugoslavia trounced Catherine Tanvier of France, 6-2, 6-1, Anke Huber of Germany defeated Natalia Zvereva of the Sovier Union, 6-3, 6-4, Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina cruised past Rachel McQuillan of Australia, 6-3, 6-1, and Mary Joe Fernandez got past Sabine Appelmans of Belgium, 6-3, 6-3.

Yzaga used a big forehand and a slew of errors by Wilander to become the first Peruvian to reach the quarterfinals of a Grand Slam tournament in the open era. Alex Olmedo of Peru won the Australian Open in 1959.

Wilander, the Australian champion in 1983, ’84 and ‘87, is ranked 47th in the world after a sabbatical from tennis. He looked good in the early rounds, beating seventh-seeded Brad Gilbert in the third round, showing the old Wilander killer backhand.

With a fairly weak draw and a good record here--he reached the semifinals last year--Wilander was in the hunt for championship No. 4.

But the shots fizzled for the most part against Yzaga, who broke for the first set and took six games in a row for the third set after Wilander tied the match at a set apiece and broken for a 1-0 lead.

Wilander took charge in the fourth set, serving four love games and allowing just one point in the fifth service game. He broke for a 5-3 lead on four errors by Yzaga and held at love with an ace for the set. That was the end of the Swede’s service dominance--and his chances of a quarterfinal berth.

Wilander had a 22-10 record in five-setters, with Yzaga at 8-7. But the Peruvian went on the attack in the fifth set, forcing Wilander to save four match points for 1-1. That was the last game Wilander won.

Yzaga saved a break point for 2-1, broke and held on forehand errors for 4-1, broke on a backhand passing shot down the line and finished off Wilander with a backhand cross-court winner.

Huber, a German teen-ager Anke Huber who has a big forehand and is being called the new Steffi Graf had a surprisingly easy time with the 11th-seeded Zvereva.

“Steffi is something special,” Huber said. “I don’t like it when people say these things.

“I’m still very young and I’m learning so much. There are many areas of my game I need to improve.”

Huber, a solidly built player with quick moves, has eliminated No. 7 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere, Pam Shriver and Zvereva on her way to the final eight--her best performance in a Grand Slam tournament.

Her next opponent is the second-seeded Seles, who will will be playing Huber for the first time.

“She hits strong shots all over the court and has good groundstrokes,” Seles said. “She’s a fighter.

“Only time will tell (if she can be as good as Graf). She has the potential, but so do I and so does Jennifer (Capriati). Remember, no one is a magician and can say, ‘She is going to be No. 1.’ ”

Shriver is less convinced of Huber’s credentials.

“There is nothing in her game that reaches across the net and shakes you,” she said. “With Steffi, the forehand was always something that could make you scared.”

Huber frequently overpowered Zvereva with her fierce forehands Sunday, and the Soviet player made many errors under pressure.

Huber, whose ranking has risen from 209 to 35 in her first year on the circuit, is always aggressive. Sometimes recklessly so.

Her coach is Boris Breskvar, who has taught Graf and Boris Becker. Breskvar said Huber has a long way to go to reach her potential.

“She can become a lot better player than she is now,” Breskvar said.

One player who dislikes the Graf-Huber comparisons as much as Huber is Graf herself.

“She is still so young and has a lot of room to develop,” Graf said. “There are quite a few things she still needs to improve.”

Graf doesn’t believe Huber will be hampered by being labeled “the new Graf.”

“It can be difficult, but she is not the type of girl that has that kind of problem,” Graf said. “She is not that kind of character so she won’t have many problems. She is pretty strong in her mind and going for what she wants.”