French Open : Evert Struggles, Avoids Upset Bug

PARIS —  Defending champion Chris Evert battled into the third round of the French Open Thursday as she and other top-seeded players managed to stem the tide of upsets that had occurred earlier in the tournament.

On the men’s side, second-seeded Boris Becker, fourth-seeded Mats Wilander, fifth-seeded Miloslav Mecir, sixth-seeded Yannick Noah and eighth-seeded Jimmy Connors all won, but none easily.

Evert, seeded No. 3, beat France’s Isabelle Demongeot, 6-3, 7-5, to end a string of surprises by French players, but she overhit a stream of groundstrokes and was well below her best.

“I had the impression that she had some physical problems. She’s getting older now,” Demongeot said after her defeat by the 32- year-old seven-time champion.

Evert said there was nothing wrong with her.

“I felt great out there,” she said. “I’m very pleased with my form so far.”

Evert’s two main rivals for the women’s crown, Martina Navratilova and Steffi Graf, also won.

Graf, the hottest player on the circuit, reached the fourth round and extended her six-month unbeaten streak to 35 matches by trouncing Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia, 6-1, 6-0.

The 17-year-old West German, seeded No. 2 and seeking her first Grand Slam victory, has dropped only five games in three matches.

Navratilova, ranked and seeded No. 1 but without a tournament title this year, advanced to round 3 but went to pieces in the middle of her match against Adriana Villagran of Argentina before winning, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2.

“There was no reason to put myself in that situation,” she said. “I had no doubt I’d win the match.”

Only one seeded player went out on the fourth day of the tournament. No. 15 Brad Gilbert became the seventh seeded man to fall when he lost to Spain’s Jorge Arrese, 7-5, 6-2, 6-1.

Becker, of West Germany, beat Mark Buckley, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2; Connors ground out a 6-4, 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 win over Michael Westphal, and Wilander sputtered against Paul Annacone before winning, 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 6-4.

Mecir won more comfortably against Horst Skoff of Austria, 7-6, 6-4, 6-1; Noah earned a 7-5, 6-7, 7-5, 6-1 victory over Christian Bergstrom of Sweden; 11th-seeded Kent Carlsson of Sweden scored a 6-3, 6-1, 6-3 victory over Spain’s Sergio Casal, and Algerian-born Tarik Benhabiles saved three match points on his way to a 7-6, 0-6, 2-6, 6-3, 9-7 victory over Anders Jarryd of Sweden.

In the women’s draw, No. 6 Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria got by Sandra Wasserman, 5-7, 6-3, 6-1; No. 7 Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina beat Camille Benjamin, 6-0, 2-6, 6-2; No. 5 Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia downed Gretchen Magers, 6-3, 6-1; No. 8 Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany beat Iwana Kuczynska of Poland, 6-2, 6-2, and No. 12 Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria ousted Bettina Fulco of Argentina, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.