TENNIS / AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Courier Breezes; Krickstein Wilts

With the intense heat buffeted by the wind, second-seeded Jim Courier breezed past unseeded Marc Rossett, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, Monday at the Australian Open.

In a later match, Aaron Krickstein yielded to heat exhaustion and nausea, quitting at 6-2, 4-6, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4), 4-1 against Israeli Amos Mansdorf.

Krickstein had one of the best records in five-setters, 22-6, before the match and had beaten Mansdorf in the four of their five meetings.

By the end of this match, though, both players were sagging in the heat, exchanging weak groundstrokes.

On the changeover after the fifth game of the fifth set, the 24-year-old Krickstein slumped into his chair and told the umpire he couldn’t go on. Mansdorf’s next opponent is Courier.

No. 4 Michael Stich, the Wimbledon champion, said he was thankful for a mid-afternoon cloud cover that reduced the heat a bit. He came back to beat popular Australian Wally Masur, 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg celebrated his 26th birthday by beating Andrei Chesnokov, 6-1, 7-5, 6-2.

Edberg next faces No. 5-seeded Ivan Lendl, who beat Omar Camporese, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, 6-3.

Edberg said the match with Lendl would be his first real test since a lengthy layoff to recover from knee and wrist injuries.

“I am really enjoying being out there and that’s very important. I’m progressing according to plan,” he said.

Courier was just glad to survive.

“My legs are very happy to sneak through in straight sets,” he said.

Asked if he would like to play John McEnroe in this tournament, Courier said: “Absolutely. That’d mean I’m in the final.”

McEnroe’s next opponent will be unseeded South African Wayne Ferreira, who beat David Wheaton, 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-2, 6-2.

In the women’s singles, third-seeded Gabriela Sabatini advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Bulgarian Katerina Maleeva.

Sabatina faces Jennifer Capriati, who had a harder-than-expected match against No. 11-seeded Zina Garrison, winning, 6-4, 6-4.

In other women’s matches, No. 4 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario beat Larisa Savchenko, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6); No. 9 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere beat Conchita Martinez, 6-4, 2-6, 6-2; and No. 12 Anke Huber upset last year’s runner-up, No. 6 Jana Novotna, 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.