Fromholtz Guns Down Evert; Chris to Hike Freedom Trail

Chris Evert will have all week to walk the Freedom Trail as unheralded Dianne Fromholtz gunned down the top-seeded Evert with an awesome artillery of angle shots en route to a stunning 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 victory last night in the opening round of the Virginia Slims Tourney at B.U.'s Walter Brown Arena.

Fromholtz took control of the match in the third game of the second set and went on to rattle off eight straight games before Evert could recover to hold serve. By that time, however, the nineteen-year-old Australian was well in control of the court proceedings.

"When we started the second set, I realized I was doing all the running," Fromholtz said. "I moved up on the ball and became the aggressor."

Fromholtz's aggression came in the form of cannon-like crosscourt shots which left Evert flatfooted. The loss was Evert's first opening round defeat as a pro.

"Everything she touched turned to god," Evert said, "I felt helpless out there."

In earlier action last night Evonne Goolalong steered clear of the upset express easily downing Californian Peggy Michel 6-4, 6-0.

Australia

The second-seeded Goolagong followed up her deep top-spinning drives with perfectly placed vollies to grab the straight set victory in less than an hour. Goolagong now stands as the clear favorite of the tourney with both Evert and Martina Navratilova (sprained wrist) relegated to the sidelines.

Virginia Wade, part of the senior set of the Slims' circuit, easily advanced with a straight set win over Tory Fritz. The fourth-seeded Wade now looks to be the primary challenger to Goolagong.

The second round of play gets under way today with key matches pitting Lesley Hunt against Francoise Durr and Goolagong against Carrie Meyer.