Tennis Roundup : Jaite’s Victory Brings Oresar’s String to an End

Argentina’s Martin Jaite ended the schoolboy fantasy of Yugoslavia’s Bruno Oresar Sunday with a 7-6, 6-1 victory in the semifinals of the $267,000 U.S. Pro Tennis Championships at Brookline, Mass.

The 20-year-old Jaite took command after saving two set points on his service in the 12th game of the first set.

In the final, Jaite will meet the winner of Sunday night’s match between top-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden and 32-year-old Guillermo Vilas of Argentina.

Oresar, 18, appeared on the verge of a fifth consecutive upset in his match against the 11th-seeded Jaite, who is ranked 40th in the world.

After holding his service at love for a 6-5 lead in the first set, Oresar had two chances to break in the 12th game. However, Jaite ran off four straight points to tie the score, 6-6.

Oresar took a 2-0 lead in the tiebreaker. Then, at 2-2, he double-faulted and it was all over as Jaite ran out the 62-minute set.

With Oresar’s confidence shattered, Jaite had little trouble in the second set, defeating his younger opponent in just 29 minutes. Oresar managed only 15 points in the set.

“I should have finished it when I was up 5-4 and he broke me in the first set,” Jaite said through an interpreter. “Then, when I held in the 12th game, I knew I had him. After the tiebreaker, I knew he would fall apart.”

Said Oresar: “Everything came together this week and then it wasn’t there. I tried, but I couldn’t do it. He’s a good player and I didn’t play very well. I was kind of lazy. My mind wasn’t on the court.”

Oresar, who had won only $1,400 in prize money this year, earned $9,429 to help pay his fare to his next tournament this week in Washington.

At Newport, R.I., 33-year-old Tom Gullikson won his first singles title in 11 years on the Grand Prix circuit when he upset John Sadri, 6-3, 7-6, in the $117,000 Volvo Tennis Hall of Fame Championships.

“It was good to finally get the monkey off my back,” said Gullikson, who picked up the $20,000 first prize after losing in four previous finals. “At least I can say I won one tournament in my life.”

Gullikson, ranked 85th on the men’s circuit, defeated four seeded players in his five matches at Newport, including No. 1 Johan Kriek, No. 4 David Pate and No. 8 John Fitzgerald. Sadri, who upset No. 2 Tim Mayotte in the semifinals, was seeded No. 6.

Gullikson, whose twin brother, Tim, won this title in 1977, was the first player in the tournament to take a set from Sadri, 28, who had won two previous Grand Prix titles.

Joakim Nystrom of Sweden defeated Andreas Maurer of West Germany, 6-4, 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, to become the first player since 1968 to win the $150,000 Swiss Open two years in a row. The last player to win at Gstaad, Switzerland, two consecutive years was Roy Emerson of Australia in 1967 and 1968.

Nystrom, however, was not at his best. In the third set, Maurer was leading 5-4 before the top-seeded Swede regained control.

Maurer’s showing against the No. 9 player in the world boosted his chances of joining Wimbledon champion Boris Becker on the West German Davis Cup team facing the United States in Hamburg July 29-31.