TENNIS ROUNDUP : Stomach Virus Stops Becker in Open Tuneup

Boris Becker withdrew Friday from the $265,000 Hamlet Cup tournament in Commack, N.Y., because of a stomach virus, but said he hoped to be ready for the U.S. Open next week.

Becker’s withdrawal from the Hamlet, a warm-up for the Open, followed the withdrawal of Jimmy Connors on Wednesday because of a thigh muscle problem.

Third-seeded Ivan Lendl advanced to the semifinal round because of Becker’s withdrawal.

Becker, a three-time Wimbledon champion, became ill after a three-set victory over Carl-Uwe Steeb of Germany in extremely hot and humid weather late Thursday.

“I had a little trouble with my stomach last night during the match and when we got back to the hotel it started hitting me,” Becker said in a statement. “I feel weak and need rest.”

Lendl will play second-seeded Michael Chang, who beat No. 7 Alexander Volkov, 6-1, 6-3.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden beat qualifier Carsten Arriens, 6-4, 6-0. Edberg faces No. 4 Petr Korda, who eliminated Stefano Pescolido, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.

“It’s a shame to lose both Connors and Becker,” Edberg said. “It’s not unusual to have one player pull out, but to lose two is bad luck.”

It was the second time that Becker was forced to withdraw from the Hamlet Cup. In 1989, he withdrew because of a sore back after the draw was made and was replaced by Steeb.

Becker withdrew from the 1991 Paris indoor round of 16 because of flu.

This year he was forced to withdraw in Madrid because of back problems and could not play in Rome or at the French Open because of a hamstring injury.

He also became ill during Germany’s Davis Cup loss in Brazil last February. He beat Luiz Mattar in his first singles match but suffered heat exhaustion and withdrew from his second singles match to play the doubles, which he and Eric Jelen lost to Fernando Roese and Cassio Motta.

Andrei Chesnokov defeated Andrei Olhovskiy 6-1, 7-6 (7-3), to advance to the semifinals of the OTB International tournament at Schenectady, N.Y.

Chesnokov and Olhovskiy, who upset defending champion and top-seeded Michael Stich on Tuesday, are 26-year-olds from Moscow who were unseeded.

Top-seeded Thomas Muster defeated Guillermo Perez-Roldan, 7-5, 6-0, to advance to the semifinals of the $260,000 Croatian Open.