TENNIS ROUNDUP : Navratilova, Stich Celebrate Their Birthdays With Victories

Martina Navratilova gave herself a birthday present Friday, defeating Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-4, 7-5, in the quarterfinals of a $350,000 tournament at Filderstadt, Germany.

“I think today I was really intense. I didn’t want to lose on my birthday, I really wanted to win badly,” said Navratilova, who turned 35.

Navratilova will next play Judith Wiesner of Austria, who hung on to eliminate Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia, 7-6 (9-7), 6-3.

In other matches, seventh-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia beat defending champion Mary Joe Fernandez, 5-7, 6-3, 6-3, and Anke Huber of Germany overpowered Zina Garrison, 6-2, 6-1.

At Vienna, top-seeded Michael Stich of Germany celebrated his 23rd birthday with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over No. 8 Anders Jarryd of Sweden to advance to the semifinals of a $250,000 tournament.

“I don’t particularly like the way Jarryd plays so I tried to really concentrate,” Stich said. “I put Jarryd under pressure from the start, moved well and played very aggressively.”

Stich will next face Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, who defeated Aaron Krickstein, 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.

Another German, Carl-Uwe Steeb, defeated Javier Frana of Argentina, 7-6 (10-8) 7-5.

At Lyon, France, Pete Sampras and Brad Gilbert each advanced to their semifinal matchup with 6-2, 6-2 victories.

Sampras, seeded second in the $500,000 event, stopped Jonas Svensson of Sweden, and No. 4 Gilbert swept No. 6 Alberto Mancini of Argentina.