TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sampras Struggles to Beat Washington at Philadelphia

Defending champion Pete Sampras survived three set points to defeat MaliVai Washington, 6-3, 7-6 (9-7), Thursday in the U.S. Pro Indoor tournament at Philadelphia.

Top-seeded Ivan Lendl and fourth-seeded John McEnroe also had tough matches. Lendl fought off 15th-seeded Gary Muller of South Africa, 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, and McEnroe defeated No. 13 Wally Masur, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Third-seeded Brad Gilbert shook off a bad start in time to beat 14th-seeded Paul Haarhuis, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1. Seventh-seeded Michael Stich of Germany also advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Chuck Adams.

Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg each fought off strong challenges before advancing to the quarterfinals of the Donnay Indoor championships at Brussels.

Becker, the world’s top-ranked player, needed two tiebreakers to defeat German countryman Eric Jelen, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-5). Edberg, ranked No. 2, defeated Australia’s Pat Cash, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4.

“I’m more or less satisfied with the level of my game,” Becker said, “even if sometimes it’s somewhat irregular.”

Switzerland’s Jakob Hlasek and the Soviet Union’s Andrei Chesnokov also advanced. Hlasek defeated Mats Wilander, 6-1, 7-5, and Chesnokov beat Yugoslav Goran Prpic, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova took only 50 minutes to overpower Anne Smith, 6-1, 6-2, and gain the semifinals of the Virginia Slims of Chicago.

Navratilova meets the winner of today’s match between fourth-seeded Jennifer Capriati and No. 6 Helena Sukova. Sukova defeated Kathy Rinaldi, 6-2, 6-2.

Zina Garrison beat Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer, 6-2, 6-2, and No. 7 Amy Frazier ousted Brenda Schultz of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-4.