Arias Upset by Mark Dickson

Defending champion Mark Dickson, Tim Mayotte and Shahar Perkiss posted second-round victories Wednesday at the World Championship Tennis Shootout at Houston.

Dickson upset fourth-seeded Jimmy Arias, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6, while the fifth-seeded Mayotte was downing Mike Bauer, 6-4 6-2. Perkiss whipped Terry Moor, 6-7, 6-4, 6-4.

Top-seeded John McEnroe rallied to defeat Wojtek Fibak, 6-2, 6-7, 7-5 in a late match.

Dickson placed four points to take a 4-0 advantage in the third-set tiebreaker. Each time he charged the net and scored with a forehand placement. Arias battled back by splitting the next four points and twice staved off match points before missing a third on a backhand error.

“Every time before, when I came to the net he had won the point,” Dickson said of his tactics at the net on the four crucial occasions of the tiebreaker.

“I think I’m playing back to the same intensity that I’ve had in the past,” Arias said.

Top-seeded Mareen Louie advanced to the third round of the $75,000 Virginia Slims of Pennsylvania tennis tournament at Hershey, Pa., with a 6-2, 6-2 win over unranked Sandy Collins in women’s singles play.

In the second round’s only upset, Marcela Skuherska of Czechoslovakia surprised seventh-seeded Beth Herr, 7-5, 4-6, 7-5.

Camille Benjamin, seeded third, downed Iva Budarova of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 7-6, 7-3. Eighth-seeded Anne Minter of Australia defeated unranked Grace Kim, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5.