Tennis Roundup : Lendl Weathers Storm, Steyn’s Serve to Advance in Tournament of Champions

Czechoslovakia’s Ivan Lendl weathered a rain delay and Christo Steyn’s powerful serve Monday night to advance into the second round of the $617,000 Tournament of Champions at New York.

Seeded second in the 64-player field at the West Side Tennis Club, Lendl ousted Steyn, 7-5, 6-3. The top seed, two-time defending champion John McEnroe, will play his opening-round match today.

The final two spots in the tournament were filled Monday by Yannick Noah of France and Jim Gurfein when they were victorious in the two $10,000 Forest Hills Challenge tournaments.

Noah, the 1983 French Open singles champion, crushed Craig Campbell of South Africa, 6-0, 6-4, and Gurfein survived South Africa’s Danie Visser, 3-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3).

Barbara Gerken of the United States rallied to score a 7-6, 6-3, first-round victory over Masako Yanagi of Japan in the $200,000 Australian Women’s Indoor Tennis Championships at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.