TENNIS ROUNDUP : Edberg and Becker Advance

Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, the world’s top-ranked tennis players, moved a step closer to a championship rematch with quarterfinal victories in the Stockholm Open Friday.

The top-seeded Edberg extended his string to 20 matches with a 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 victory over Richey Reneberg.

“I expected a difficult match, but not that tough,” said Edberg, whose streak is the longest in men’s tennis this year.

Becker, playing in his second ATP tournament since he injured his back at the U.S. Open, beat Pete Sampras, 7-5, 7-5.

Becker broke Sampras’ serve in the 11th game of each set.

“I’m hungry for tennis now,” Becker said. “This is only my sixth match since the U.S. Open, but it was my best one.”

Next up for Edberg is Aaron Krickstein, who advanced when his opponent, Goran Ivanisevic, retired because of a cold. Krickstein led at the time, 7-6 (10-8), 1-0.

Krickstein, seeded 12th, earlier upset Michael Stich.

Jim Courier, seeded third, beat Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, 6-4, 6-4, in the last quarterfinal, breaking his opponent’s serve for a 5-4 lead in each set to clinch a semifinal meeting with Becker.

Top-seeded Steffi Graf beat Lori McNeil, 7-5, 6-2, to advance to the semifinals of an indoor tournament at Brighton, England, but second-seeded Katerina Maleeva was ousted by unseeded Catarina Lindqvist, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3).

In the semifinals, Lindqvist will play third-seeded Zina Garrison, who defeated Radka Zrubakova, 6-3, 6-2. Graf will play No. 5 Barbara Paulus, who advanced when No. 4 Nathalie Tauziat pulled out with a stomach virus.