Tennis Roundup : Davis’ Run Ends; Pate Meets Edberg for Title

David Pate ended Scott Davis’ string of upsets in the $605,000 Japan Open with a 7-5, 6-1 victory Saturday at Tokyo. He will meet Sweden’s Stefan Edberg today for the $68,000 top prize.

Edberg, the reigning Australian Open champion, came from behind to beat Ecuador’s Andres Gomez in the other men’s semifinal, 4-6, 7-6, 6-2.

Meanwhile, the women’s singles title went to Bulgaria’s Katerina Maleeva, who defeated Barbara Gerken, 6-2, 6-3.

The victory ended 1 1/2 years without a title for Maleeva, ranked 23rd in the world, and brought her a check for $15,000. Gerken, of Thousand Oaks, who is ranked 95th, received $6,400.

“It was my best (tournament) of the year,” Maleeva said after winning. “My last victory was in the Netherlands in November 1985.”

Until his loss to Pate, Davis had been the tournament’s giant killer. He upset third-seeded Miloslav Mecir in a third-round match Thursday, 7-5, 6-1, and fourth-seeded Jimmy Connors in the quarterfinals Friday, 6-3, 6-4.

Pate celebrated his 25th birthday Thursday by ousting Ivan Lendl, 7-6, 4-6, 7-6.

At Amelia Island, Fla., Steffi Graf and Hana Mandlikova romped into the final of the $300,000 WITA Championships.

Graf, seeded No. 1, won her 21st straight match by defeating No. 5-seeded Gabriela Sabatini, 6-2, 6-2, after waiting out a rain delay of nearly two hours.

Mandlikova, seeded No. 2, eliminated No. 3-seeded Zina Garrison, 6-3, 6-3.

Graf, who has won 42 of the 44 sets she has played this year, said she played much better after the rain delay.

“When I started, I wasn’t doing anything,” the 17-year-old West German said. “I was just hitting the ball in. After the delay, I found my timing, and I felt relaxed. I started going for my shots. I think I played much better than last week.”

In the semifinals of a tournament at Hilton Head, S.C., last week, Graf was pushed to a third-set tiebreaker before defeating Sabatini, 6-3, 2-6, 7-6.

Mandlikova and Graf have split their two earlier career meetings.

“I am looking forward to playing Steffi again,” Mandlikova said. “It’s good to play her before the Grand Slam tournaments. Right now, I have my mind on the match and nothing else.”

Top-seeded Kent Carlsson of Sweden defeated Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union, 6-0, 7-5, in the semifinals of a $104,900 tournament at Nice.

Carlsson will meet second-seeded Emilio Sanchez of Spain in today’s final. Sanchez defeated Thierry Tulasne of France, 7-5, 6-2.

In Miami, Bonnie Gadusek announced her retirement from professional tennis after six years on the women’s tour.

Gadusek, 23, of Largo, Fla., was ranked in the top 20 from 1982 to 1986. A winner of seven tournaments, she finished 1986 ranked No. 12 in the world and was ranked as high as No. 8 in July 1984 and May 1985.