Connors Struggles at Start but Rallies to Beat Pridham : Tennis: He loses first set to Canadian, then recovers to advance to the quarterfinals in L.A.

LOS ANGELES —  In his 21st year in pro tennis, Jimmy Connors said nothing surprises him. This must be especially true at 39, an age when you could expect the tennis balls to have gray fuzz.

But winning a tournament? Now that would be surprising, sure enough, Connors said.

“If you asked me six or eight years ago, I’d have said my chances were damn good,” Connors said after reaching the quarterfinals of the Volvo/Los Angeles tournament Thursday night at UCLA. “Right now, I’m just glad to be where I am.

“But do I have a chance? Sure. From my side, a lot of things must happen, like I have to feel healthy and maybe be lucky.

“And from the other side, I’ve got to have some things happen too. They might have to fall down and break their legs.”

Winner of 109 singles titles, Connors moved to within three victories of another with a 2-6, 6-3, 6-4 decision over Chris Pridham of Canada. Even if few are expecting him to win Sunday--or to even be around--well, Connors said, stranger things have happened.

“I’ve seen it all, more than once too,” he said. “Twenty-one years is a long time to see a lot of strange things.”

Maybe so, but Pridham isn’t convinced about Connors.

Conqueror of Bjorn Borg in the first round, Pridham missed racking up a double play of aging tennis superstars once Connors turned his game up a notch midway through the second set.

The time is past for Connors to be winning tournaments, Pridham said.

“I hate to say it,” he said. “He’s a little slower, his (shots) don’t have as much punch. The game has become so powerful, guys can almost muscle him off the court.”

Speaking of muscle, power-serving Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands is the lone remaining seeded player in the bottom half of the draw after a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Byron Black of Zimbabwe.

“Rankings-wise, it’s looking very good for me at the moment, but you have to go match by match,” Krajicek said.

Two left-handers, one from Manhattan Beach and one from Australia, reached the quarterfinals by upending seeded players.

Red-haired Mark Woodforde from Adelaide, who earned a match against Connors, had an easy time knocking out fourth-seeded Alexander Volkov, 6-3, 6-4, but Jeff Tarango needed three sets and 2 hours 53 minutes to defeat seventh-seeded David Wheaton, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).

Volkov needed only a few words to explain his demise: “I played bad. That’s it. I try, I make a lot of mistakes.”

Wheaton (15 aces, 11 double faults) made too many mistakes at the wrong time, including a double fault that gave Tarango match point.

By that time, Tarango could barely move because of a sore muscle in his right side, but once Wheaton knocked a ball off the grandstand wall to end it, Tarango risked further injury by sinking to his knees on the hard court as he celebrated his upcoming match against Krajicek.

Afterward, Tarango described his injury: “My side feels like there’s a new bone in it.”

Tennis Notes

Aaron Krickstein’s second-round match did not end until 12:30 Thursday morning. It had started at 10:11 p.m. Wednesday, after a doubles match featuring Bjorn Borg. Krickstein, the No. 1-seeded player, was annoyed about starting so late. “To be scheduled second after Borg, I didn’t think that was such a great idea,” he said. “I’m not a household name. I haven’t won a Grand Slam. They go with the bigger names, that’s fine, but I don’t think singles should play second, especially at 10:30, that’s kind of ridiculous. I don’t think (John) McEnroe or (Jimmy) Connors would be too happy with that.”

In a charity event at the tournament, Pancho Gonzalez, 62, hit a 102-m.p.h. serve, faster than any hit by Connors, John Lloyd or Vijay Amritraj. . . . What’s in a name? Sandon Stolle, who will play Richey Reneberg in the quarterfinals today, said his mother decided on his name when she read it in a book. Until then, she had another name picked out: Kyle. . . . Jeff Tarango, who injured his side in his second-round upset of David Wheaton, said he had received treatment from the medical staff. “They gave me a lot of stuff,” Tarango said. “I don’t even know what it is. Hopefully, they won’t drug-test me this week.”