Tennis Roundup : McEnroe Disposes of Jarryd in an Hour, 6-1, 6-2

Defending champion John McEnroe, improving his game with each match, routed an off-form Anders Jarryd, 6-1, 6-2, Sunday to win a record fourth singles title in the $375,000 Stockholm Open at Stockholm.

It was the most one-sided championship match ever in this tourney, the world’s oldest Grand Prix event indoors. McEnroe, who did not lose a set in his five matches here, never let the 24-year-old Swede get started.

“I felt better and better for every match and it’s very nice for a change because it hasn’t happened that much this year,” said McEnroe, who also won successive titles here 1978 and 1979.

“It was as good as I’ve played for a long time. Everything felt smooth, and I felt I could have played even better if needed.”

But he really did not need to, losing just one point in four service games in the second set.

Jarryd, who is ranked eighth in the world, absorbed his worst beating in seven matches against McEnroe.

“I didn’t have any fire today. It’s very important to get a good start against him, but I served badly from the outset,” he said.

McEnroe, who earned $60,000 for his eighth Grand Prix title of the year, never was challenged. He broke Jarryd twice in each set and it was all over in one hour.

Jarryd, who said he was tired after playing a doubles semifinal that did not end until well past midnight, fought back to deuce in two of McEnroe’s service games in the first set.

But McEnroe was tougher on the big points, relying on his big serve for instant winners or forcing Jarryd to miss his returns.

McEnroe advanced to the final with a 6-3, 7-6 victory over Stefan Edberg. Jarryd beat Joakim Nystrom by an identical score, then he and Edberg lost the doubles semifinal to Mike DePalmer and Gary Donelly after dropping an 8-6 third-set tiebreaker.

DePalmer, of Knoxville, Tenn., and Donelly, of Scottsdale, Ariz., lost the doubles final, 6-3, 6-4, to Andres Gomez of Ecuador and Guy Forget of France.

Eighth-seeded Stephanie Rehe of Highlands, Calif., won her first major professional title by outlasting third-seed Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5, in the final of the $150,000 Florida Federal tournament at the Bardmoor Country Club in Largo, Fla.

Rehe, a wild-card entry in the tournament two years ago as a 13-year-old, picked up the first-place check of $27,000. Sabatini, who, like Rehe, was seeking her first major title, earned $13,000 as runner-up.

Fifth-seeded Brad Pearce of UCLA overcame a first-set loss to defeat Cal State Long Beach’s Richard Berg, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, and win the adidas invitational collegiate tournament at the La Quinta Hotel in La Quinta.

With the victory, Pearce gained a wild-card berth into the Pilot Pen professional tournament at La Quinta in February.