Tennis Roundup : Joining 500 Club Takes Mandlikova by Surprise

Hana Mandlikova had no idea she was about to join the ranks of great women tennis players.

Mandlikova, of Czechoslovakia, became the eighth woman ever to record 500 victories when she defeated Alycia Moulton, 6-0, 7-5, Wednesday in the $280,000 Women’s Canadian Open at Toronto.

“I was totally surprised, totally shocked,” Mandlikova said. “I didn’t know (this would be the 500th).”

Maureen Hanlon, a Women’s International Tennis Assn. official, said she did not tell Mandlikova she was closing in on the 500 mark, so that she would not feel any pressure.

Mandlikova, seeded second in the tournament, joined Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Virginia Wade, Evonne Goolagong Cawley, Billie Jean King, Wendy Turnbull and Rosie Casals in the 500 club. Evert leads with 1,192 victories.

“I’ve been playing now for seven years and it took me that long to win 500,” Mandlikova said. “I don’t think I can play another seven. Maybe I can play five more years. Then I will settle down and have a normal life.”

The top-seeded Evert cleared a big hurdle to reach the third round, beating 6-foot 2-inch Sara Gomer of Great Britain, 6-3, 6-2.

“Sara’s a dangerous player,” Evert said. “She’s so big that when she comes to the net, she’s hard to pass. But when I play her, it’s never real intense, it’s relaxing.

“I thought I was in total control of the match.”

Gomer was in the parking lot trying to relax until moments before the match.

She said the match was an improvement from her 6-1, 6-0 defeat by Evert earlier this year at Wimbledon.

“I was out in the parking lot doing some stretching and jumping around, trying to get relaxed, and the match referee kept calling me to tell me I’d better get changed and onto the court,” said Gomer, who is ranked 55th in the world.

“Chris didn’t let me play my serve-and-volley game at Wimbledon. The only time I got to the net at Wimbledon was to shake Chris’ hand. And it was all over in about 30 minutes.”

In other matches, Niege Dias of Brazil upset 12th-seeded Elizabeth Smylie of Australia, 6-2, 6-4; sixth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina trounced Patricia Hy of Hong Kong, 6-0, 6-1; Claudia Kohde-Kilsch of West Germany eliminated Mercedes Paz of Argentina, 6-0, 6-2, and eighth-seeded Kathy Jordan downed West Germany’s Isabel Cueto, 6-2, 6-3.

Top-seeded Mats Wilander defeated Robert Seguso, 6-2, 6-2, and advanced to the third round of the $375,000 Assn. of Tennis Professionals Championships at Mason, Ohio.

Third-seeded Boris Becker had a tougher time, overcoming a sloppy first set to beat American Ben Testerman, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

No. 2-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden struggled past Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 7-6, 7-5; unseeded Paul Annacone, who upset fifth-seeded John McEnroe in a first-round match, got past Australian John Fitzgerald, 6-2, 6-7, 6-3; Peter Lundgren of Sweden beat Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia, 7-6, 6-3, and Derrick Rostagno upset Scott Davis, 6-3, 6-4.