First big tests for Borg, Navratilova

Press, 2 September 1980, Page 36

First big tests for Borg, Navratilova

NZPA-Reuter New York Bjorn Borg and Martina Navratilova both face their first big tests in their bids for the, only major championship to elude them when they play two of the best young players in tennis today, during the fourth round of the United States open tennis championships. The top-seeded Borg, seeking the third leg on the grand slam of tennis, plays the 20-year-old, Yannick Noah, the fifteenth seed, while Miss Navratilova, seeded second, faced the 18-year-old Czech, Hana Mandlikova, who upset Martina in the semi-finals of a tournament in Mahwah, New Jersey, last week. Four high seeded players will also be. confronted with formidable oiranents during the seventh day of the open, on the rubberised asphalt courts at the United States National Tennis Centre. The top' women’s seed and defending champion, Tracy

Austin, meets the tenth seed, Virginia Ruzici of Rumania. The men’s fourth seed, Guillermo Vilas, of Argentina, plays the fourteenth seed, Wajtek Fibak, of Poland, Dianne Fromholtz, seeded sixth on the women’s side, takes on the thirteenth seed, Pam Shriver, and the eleventh seed, Roscoe Tanner, plays Brian Teacher, who beat India’s Vijay Amritraj in the third round. Other attractive matches pair the third seed, Chris Evert Lloyd, a four-time open champion, against Joanne Russell, and South Africa’s Johan Kriek against Buster Mottram, of Britain, who beat Hank Pfister, the upset winner over the fifth seed, Vitas Gerulaitis. Two more women’s seeds and one seeded men’s player were eliminated yesterday. The fifth seed, Wendy Turnbull, of Australia, was upset by a relative unknown, Barbara Hallquist, of Arcadia, California, 7-5, 6-1; and the twelfth seed, Vir-

ginia Wade, of Britain, fell to the 21-year-old Lucia Romanov, of Rumania, 6-4, 2-6, 0-6, Miss Turnbull, the runnerup to Mrs Lloyd in the 1977 open, and Mrs Wade, the winner of the first open in 1968, thus joined the seventh seed, Greer Stevens, of South Africa, the fifteenth seed, Betty Stove, of the Netherlands, and Regina Marsikova, of Czechoslovakia, .the No, 16 seed, on the list of women’s seeds to have been eliminated. On the men’s side, Victor Amaya (No. .16) became the sixth men’s seed to be ousted when he bowed to Pascal Portes, of France, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6, 6-3. But five other seeds — file defending champion, John McEnroe, the No. 2 seed, Jimmy Connors (No. 3), Harold Solomon (No. 7), Ivan Lendl, of Czechoslovakia, (No. 10) and Brian Gottfried (No. 13), all gained the round of 16.