Tennis Roundup : Arias Loses, Says Gomez Cheated

Defending champion Andres Gomez won a controversial match in the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships at Brookline, Mass., Friday over Jimmy Arias, who accused him of cheating.

The second-seded Gomez, from Ecuador, beat the seventh-seeded Arias, 2-6, 7-5, 7-6, to advance to the semifinals of the $293,400 tournament.

The dispute occurred on the first point of the tiebreaker after Arias had fought off four match points at 6-5 in the third set to tie the match.

A lineswoman called Arias’ shot out, then reversed herself. Gomez argued that he stopped going for the ball when he heard the call, and the point was ordered replayed.

It was won by Gomez, who also took the next three points and won the tiebreaker, 7-3.

“Gomez said he could have gotten to the shot if they hadn’t called it out, which is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard,” Arias said. “He just cheated, basically.”

After the match, Arias refused to shake hands with either umpire Richard Kaufman or Gomez, who shrugged off the tirade.

“You can see who has more class,” Gomez said. “Did I look bad or did he look bad?

“I’m not going to lose any sleep because he says I’m a cheater. I am not a cheater.”

Gomez’s opponent today will be third-seeded Kent Carlsson, who beat fifth-seeded fellow Swede Joakim Nystrom, 6-1, 7-5.

Top-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden will play in the other semifinal after beating Tom Nijssen of the Netherlands, 6-2, 7-5. Wilander will meet fourth-seeded Martin Jaite of Argentina, who defeated sixth-seeded Aaron Krickstein, 1-6, 6-4, 6-1.

Christo van Rensburg of South Africa survived 13 double-faults to beat Joey Rive, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3, at Newport, R.I., and will face Sammy Giammalva today in the semifinals of the $100,000 Tennis Hall of Fame Championships.

Giammalva advanced with a 6-7, 6-1, 6-4 victory over Brad Drewett of Australia.

Wally Masur of Australia will meet Dan Goldie in the other semifinal.

At Gstaad, Switzerland, Spain’s Emilio Sanchez ousted Sweden’s Mikael Pernfors, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1, to reach the semifinals of the $230,000 Swiss Open.

In other matches, Spain’s Angelo Tous defeated Argentina’s Eduardo Bengoechea, 7-5, 3-6, 6-4; Switzerland’s Claudio Mezzadri beat France’s Guy Forget, 7-6, 6-3, and Haiti’s Ronald Agenor eliminated Czechoslovakia’s Marian Vajda, 7-5, 6-1.