TENNIS: Easy for Austria

Austria defeated Argentina at the start of the Hopman Cup mixed teams tennis tournament in Perth yesterday to move into the quarter-finals of the $A760,000 event. Austria's Judith Wiesner and Horst Skoff now face a tough contest with Germany's Boris Becker and Anke Huber next Wednesday, after dimissing Argentina's Ines Gorrochategui and Javier Frana with almost contemptuous

ease. In the women's singles, 28-year-old Wiesner, ranked 25th in the world, needed only 95 minutes to beat Gorrochategui. Wiesner won 6-1 7-5. Skoff was even more dominant in his men's singles clash with Frana, winning 6-1 6-4 in 74 minutes. The 25-year-old Skoff is ranked 48th in the world, compared with Frana's 113th ranking. In the mixed doubles, the Argentinian pair gained a consolation win, 6-4 7-5. Austria, seeded eighth in the tournament, are certain to face a much bigger challenge against the G ermans, who are seeded two. Huber, partnered by Bernd Karbacher, reached the final of last year's competition before going down to the Czech Republic's Petr Korda and Jana Novotna. In a second first-round tie today, South Africa's Christo van Rensburg an d Amanda Coetzer, seeded seventh in the tournament, meet Australia's Pat Cash and Kristine Radford. The Australians are unseeded.