TENNIS ROUNDUP : Connors Can’t Stop Becker

Jimmy Connors, who is 0-5 against Boris Becker, committed costly errors in two crucial service games and lost to him, 6-4, 6-3, Friday in a quarterfinal of the U.S. Hardcourts championships at Indianapolis.

In other matches, No. 2-seeded Pete Sampras defeated wild card Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, 6-0, 7-6 (8-6), and Todd Martin beat Francisco Clavet of Spain, 6-1, 6-2.

Top seed Jim Courier advanced to the semifinals against Martin, his practice partner, with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Brett Steven of New Zealand.

Serving at 1-1 in the first set, Connors led 30-0 when he netted four consecutive shots to give Becker the break and a 2-1 advantage.

“I had 30-love that game, I had 30-love the game before,” Connors said. “He wasn’t showing me. I was showing him, which made him play better.”

Trailing 30-40, Becker got out of trouble with a 105-m.p.h. serve for deuce.

“Sometimes you can’t hit what you can’t see,” Connors said.

With the second set tied, 3-3, Connors was broken again when he netted two consecutive shots. Becker led, 4-3, and broke again in the ninth game to win the match.

“I wanted to make sure I was always just a little ahead,” Becker said. “He’s trying all the time. It doesn’t matter what score, against who--doesn’t matter what kind of temperature it is. He doesn’t let the other guy know he’s down. He always puts his head up.”

Sampras will play Becker in today’s semifinals.

After winning only two points off Marc Rosset’s serve during the first set, second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic prevailed, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4, in a quarterfinal of the Volvo International at New Haven, Conn.

Rosset, the Olympic gold medalist who beat Ivanisevic in straight sets in a five-set semifinal at Barcelona, finished Friday’s match with 17 aces, winning points on 46 of the 49 first serves he got in.

Another powerful server, No. 8-seeded MaliVai Washington eliminated No. 9 John McEnroe, 7-6 (7-0), 6-4.

In other matches, top-seeded Stefan Edberg beat 16th-seeded Paul Haarhuis, 6-2, 6-4; and No. 3 Michael Chang defeated No. 14 Andrei Cherkasov, 6-2, 6-1.

Lori McNeil beat No. 4-seeded Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Switzerland, 7-5, 6-2; and Helena Sukova defeated No. 3 Mary Joe Fernandez, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, in quarterfinals of the Matinee International Canadian Open at Montreal.

McNeil had not defeated Maleeva-Fragniere since 1987 at Dallas, and Maleeva-Fragniere had won six of their previous seven matches.

“I won most of my points at the net,” McNeil said. “I was rushing her--not giving her any time to make her shots.”

Sukova was down a service break at 4-3 in the third set, but came back to win when Fernandez double-faulted on match point.

In other matches, Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain swept France’s Nathalie Tauziat, 6-2, 6-4, and Monica Seles defeated Patricia Hy, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1.