Tennis Roundup : Cash Beats Edberg, Plays Connors in the Semifinals

Pat Cash ousted second-seeded Stefan Edberg, 7-6, 7-6, Friday to set up a semifinal match with Jimmy Connors in the $300,000 Queen’s Club tournament at London.

It will be top-seeded Boris Becker against defending champion Tim Mayotte in the other semifinal today.

Connors, seeded fifth, defeated Eric Jelen, 6-4, 6-4, ending the 22-year-old West German’s streak of upsets. Jelen beat third-seeded Mats Wilander in the first round and 14th-seeded Amos Mansdorf in the third.

Earlier in the day, Connors ousted Nigeria’s Nduka Odizor, 7-5, 7-5, in a match that had been suspended because of darkness Thursday night.

Becker downed eighth-seeded David Pate, 6-4, 7-6, while Mayotte, seeded sixth, defeated India’s Ramesh Krishnan, 6-2, 6-3.

Neither Cash nor Edberg was able to break serve in a match described by the Swede as frustrating.

“It’s hard to play him because you don’t really get the feeling you have a chance to break him,” he said.

Edberg said the loss was not a blow to his preparations for Wimbledon, which starts June 22.

“I felt I was playing well, which I haven’t for the past three matches, and if I continue to progress I’ll be all right for Wimbledon,” he said.

Becker served eight aces on his way to beating Pate. But he appeared less confident in the second set and admitted he had trouble concentrating.

“My main problem was that I was a little bit loose,” he said. “I also lost the timing of my serve late in the second set, and he made some good backhand returns.”

Mayotte said he was looking forward to meeting Becker again.

“I beat Boris in the quarterfinals last year, and it’s more a question of keeping my level high, especially my serve, and not worrying about him.”

Gabriela Sabatini defeated Scotland’s Susie Mair, 6-0, 6-3, to reach the final of a tournament at Edinburgh, Scotland, and will play Lisa Bonder, who beat Norway’s Ami Jonsson, 6-4, 6-2.

In the men’s competition, Sweden’s Anders Jarryd reached the semifinals with a 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Australia’s Des Tyson, while Johan Kriek advanced with a 7-5, 2-6, 7-5 win over Jonathan Cantor.

Ivan Lendl and Ecuador’s Andres Gomez are the other semifinalists.

At Birmingham, England, Pam Shriver survived yet another rain hold-up to beat South Africa’s Dinky Van Rensburg, 6-2, 6-3, in the third round of the Edgbaston Cup women’s championships.