Tennis Roundup : Becker Wins Third Straight Title

Two-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker won his third tournament in three weeks Sunday, beating Sergio Casal of Spain, 6-4, 6-3, 7-6, in the final of the $625,000 Paris Open indoor tennis tournament.

The 18-year-old West German won the Australian indoor tournament in Sydney, and an event in Tokyo prior to coming to Paris. In three weeks Becker has earned $215,000 including $100,000 Sunday.

In the first set, Becker broke Casal’s service in the first game, taking advantage of the Spaniard’s nervousness.

Casal netted Becker’s first two service returns and served a double fault. A backhand wide by Casal gave Becker the first game.

In the second set, both players held serve until 2-2. Then Becker took advantage of another Casal double fault and a forehand that went long to gain his second break of the match.

Both players held serve in the third set, forcing a tiebreaker.

The key point came at 2-3 on Casal’s serve when Casal netted a forehand with Becker charging. Although Casal scored the next point, Becker had his 21st and 22nd aces of the match to set up match point which he won when his service return forced a Casal backhand wide.

Casal, who upset John McEnroe in Friday’s quarterfinals, was playing in his first final of the year and only the third of his life. The 24 year old from Barcelona had to survive a preliminary competition to qualify for the main draw.

The $50,000 he won is almost half what he won prior to the tournament. In 25 previous tournaments this year, he earned just over $107,000.

Casal, ranked 100th in the world prior to making the final, expects to rise in the rankings. “This result gives me a boost in morale,” Casal said. “I hope to play better to finish the year in the top 50 places.”

Top-seeded Zina Garrison defeated fifth-seeded Melissa Gurney, 6-3, 6-3, to win the Virginia Slims tournament in Indianapolis.

Garrison, from Houston, took a total of 61 minutes to defeat the 17-year-old Gurney, from Palos Verdes, who upset second-seeded Dianne Fromholtz Balestrat of Australia Saturday in the semifinals.

Garrison dominated the first set. But in the second, Gurney had a 3-1 lead before Garrison won the next five games and took the $13,000 prize.

Seventh-seeded Ramesh Krishnan of India upset defending champion and second-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 7-6, 6-0, 7-5, to win the $200,000 Seiko Super tournament in Hong Kong.