Tennis Roundup : McEnroe Beats Noah, to Meet Mecir in Antwerp Final

John McEnroe and Czechoslovakia’s Miloslav Mecir each scored straight-set victories Saturday to advance to the final of the $920,000 European Community indoor tennis tournament at Antwerp, Belgium.

McEnroe defeated France’s Yannick Noah, 6-2, 6-3, and Mecir overcame Jimmy Arias, 6-2, 6-1.

Arias and Noah each earned $100,000 for reaching the semifinals. Today’s winner will receive $210,000, the loser $140,000 in the world’s richest indoor tournament.

In a lopsided match, McEnroe displayed powerful serves, dominated at the net and sent Noah all over the court chasing his accurate groundstrokes.

“Noah was stretching. I had him on the run,� McEnroe said. He served four aces and, when faced with the occasional breakpoint, attacked the net to force Noah into mistakes or hit volleys for clean winners.

“I couldn’t break him when I had the occasion,� said Noah, who was whistled at by some of the crowd of 8,000 at the Sports Palace.

Mecir, 22, dominated play from the start with accurate, low groundstrokes and timely rushes to the net. He held all his service games and engaged Arias in long rallies, sending him scrambling over the full width of the court.

“I played the important points well and had more luck with them,� Mecir said.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg edged France’s Henri Leconte, 6-7, 6-4, 7-6, and Mats Wilander defeated France’s Guy Forget, 6-2, 7-6, to set up an all-Swedish final in the $435,000 Stockholm Open at Stockholm.

“I can’t play better than this,� Edberg said after his 2-hour 14-minute marathon. “And I don’t believe what he (Leconte) can do with the ball. No one but possibly John McEnroe can play shots like Leconte.�

Edberg won 118 points to 117 for his opponent and served 10 aces, including three on his second serve.

Leconte had only two aces, but the left-hander produced a stream of passing shots and fine returns.

Two-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker of West Germany followed Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia in pulling out of this week’s $375,000 Benson and Hedges indoor tournament at Wembley, England.

Becker is suffering from a fever following influenza, while Lendl, the world’s No. 1 player, has an injured hip.

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova and fourth-seeded Pam Shriver easily beat their less-experienced opponents to advance to the semifinals of the $250,000 Virginia Slims of New England tournament at Worcester, Mass.

Navratilova defeated Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, 6-2, 6-2, while Shriver beat Alycia Moulton, 6-2, 6-2.

In the other quarterfinal matches, unseeded Bettina Bunge downed third-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia, 6-4, 7-6, and second-seeded Hana Mandlikova of Czechoslovakia eliminated Lori McNeil, 6-4, 6-2.