Seeds fall in N.S.W. Open

Press, 22 December 1978, Page 20

Seeds fall in N.S.W. Open

SZPA Sydney The Argentine tennis ace. Guillermo Vilas, shone like a beacon as the $175,000 Nabisco New South Wales qpea degenerated into a promoter's nightmare at White Citv vesterday. Vilas and the Australian Davis Cup star, John Alexander, were the onlv surviving seeds from the top'eight as the tournament limped into the quarter-finals. In another day of shocks, three seeded placers, the former Wimbledon champion. Arthur Ashe, the young American, Tim Gullikson. and the veteran Ken Rosewall. the number eight seed, were bundled out in the third round. The Victorian. Allan Stone, blasted Ashe out of the tournament with a brilliant 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, win. Sydney’s Kim Warwick accounted for Gullikson. 6-4, 6-4, and the enigmatic South African. Bernie Mitton. beat Rosewall. 6-3,: 5-7. 6-2. While those around him I crashed. Vilas carved out a resounding 6-2. 6-3 win over John James 'South Australia!. Alexander cruised into the quarter-finals with a 6-3. 7-6 win oter Peter Feigl (Austria, and

was alwajs in command, in spite of the Austrian's marked improvement in the second set. ; Prior to yesterday’s third; round, the second seed, JoseLewis Clerc (Argentina), the fifth-seeded Wojtek Fibak (Poland), and New Zealand’s Chris Lewis, the number seven seed, al) fell by the wayside. The leading women also had ; their problems yesterday. The top seeds, Wendy Turnbull iQueenslandi and Sydney’s blonde star. Dianne Fromholtz. both struggled into the quarter-finals after surviving tough threesetters. Turnbull overcame a mid-match slump to outlast West Germany's Katjaj Ebbinghuas. 6-2, 6-7, 6-4, while Fromholtz bounced back after dropping the first set to beat Daniella Porzio (Italy), 4-6, 6-1, 6-3. In other second round women’s (singles matches. South Africa's Ilana Kloss shook off a bad start to thrash the Australian, Pat Gregg. 6-2. 6-0. Lesley Hunt (Western Australia) eliminated , Hana Strachonova (Czechoslovakia). 6-3. 6-0. and the American. Lea Antonpolois. beat Nina Bohm (Sweden), 6-4. 6-7, 7-6.