Tennis Roundup : Edberg’s Combination KOs Connors, 6-1, 6-4

Sweden’s Stefan Edberg called it a combination of luck and skill.

Whatever it was, the 19-year-old Swede was in command from the outset in a 6-1, 6-4 upset of Jimmy Connors in the semifinals of the U.S. National Indoor championships at Memphis, Tenn.

“I was a little bit lucky,” Edberg said after the match. “You have to be lucky to beat him, but I played well, too.”

Edberg will play Yannick Noah in today’s final. Noah, seeded third, started slowly but finished strong to beat Eliot Teltscher, 3-6, 6-1, 7-5.

Noah suffered a sprained ankle in his quarterfinal match with Greg Holmes Friday night, but the Frenchman didn’t play Saturday as if he was in any pain.

After trailing throughout the first set, Noah jumped to a 5-0 lead before Teltscher won the sixth game in the second set.

In the final set, Noah led, 3-1, but Teltscher rallied for a 5-4 lead. Noah regained control and won the final three points.

Edberg said he played one of the best matches of his career, and Connors agreed.

“He played well today,” Connors said. “I gave him no reason not to.”

Connors said he still doesn’t feel comfortable with his new mid-size racket, which he traded in for his old Wilson T-2000 model.

“I’ve been struggling all week,” he said. “Been struggling for a couple of weeks.”

However, Connors said he will not return to his old racket.

“I get caught going back and forth, then that’s just going to mess it up even more,” he said. “I think the best thing to do is make a commitment one way or another. . . . I know I can’t continue playing with this one.”

The new racket is still in the development stages, and Connors said he will stick with the model as improvements are made.

Connors, who was the defending champion at the U.S. National Indoor, had struggled all week. He allowed Sweden’s Jan Gunnarson to force him into a third set in the second round, then had to fight back from a one-set deficit with Leif Shiras in the third round.

Third-seeded Pam Casale upset top-seeded Kathy Jordan, 7-5, 6-4, in the semifinals of the $140,000 BMW Championship at Marco Island, Fla.

In the other semifinal, second-seeded Bonnie Gadusek beat unseeded Sabrina Goles of Yugoslavia, 6-4, 6-3.

Casale will meet Gadusek in today’s final.