Tennis Roundup : Wilander Wins, Will Face Nystrom

Top seed Mats Wilander used a steady serve-and-volley attack to defeat Richey Reneberg, 6-4, 6-4, Friday night to advance to the semifinals of the $375,000 U.S. Open Clay Court Tennis Championships at Indianapolis.

Wilander will face fellow Swede and doubles partner Joakim Nystrom, the tournament’s No. 5 seed, in Saturday’s semifinals. The other semifinal pits No. 3 Kent Carlsson, also from Sweden, against Argentina’s Guillermo Perez-Roldan, the No. 10 seed.

Mixing lobs and strong passing shots, Wilander kept Reneberg off balance and forced the 1987 NCAA champion from Southern Methodist to race across the courts at the Indianapolis Sports Center.

While Wilander rolled, the other quarterfinal winners overcame early struggles to advance. Carlsson eliminated West German Patrick Kuhnen 7-6 (7-2), 6-1; Perez-Roldan beat South Africa’s Gary Muller 1-6, 6-3, 6-4; and Nystrom defeated No. 4 Martin Jaite 7-6 (7-5), 6-0.

Jaite, Argentina’s highest-ranked player, led the first set tie-breaker 5-2 over Nystrom. But Jaite hit a return wide on the next point and sent return volleys into the net on the final four points to lose the set. Nystrom rolled through the second set, allowing Jaite only nine points.

Jaite said the loss came as a result of “his play and my head. I had a chance to win the set when I led 5-2, but I hit the next two shots badly and I put two not-so easy volleys into the net.

At the U.S. Pro Championships last Saturday, Jaite was two points away from defeating Wilander in a semifinal match but lost. Wilander went on to win the Boston tournament after defeating Jaite 0-6, 7-5, 6-0.

Nystrom, 24, lost his only previous match against Jaite in the Italian Open semifinals this year. He said he was lucky to beat Jaite Friday.

Carlsson, 19, won the final four points of his first-set tie-breaker and broke Kuhnen’s serve twice in the final set to advance.

Perez-Roldan, the 17-year-old winner of the French Open junior title the past two years, recovered after a sluggish first set to eliminate Muller, who had his best finish as a professional.

Top-seeded Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia advanced to the semifinals of the $231,000 Mercedes Cup tournament at Stuttgart, West Germany, with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-1 victory over countryman Marian Vajda, but second-seeded Henri Leconte of France was eliminated.

Leconte lost to Carl-Uwe Steeb of West Germany, 4-6, 6-3, 6-1, in a match that was delayed by rain for 1 hour 40 minutes in the second set. Also, the umpire assessed a penalty point against Leconte in the second set for arguing a decision and throwing a tantrum.

In other quarterfinals, Jan Gunnarsson of Sweden defeated Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 6-4, 6-4, and and Tomas Smid of Czechoslovakia routed Eduardo Bengoechea of Argentina, 6-2, 6-2. Gunnarsson will meet Steeb in today’s semifinals, Smid faces Mecir.

Top-seeded Johan Kriek advanced to the semifinals of the $125,000 Volvo-New Jersey tennis tournament at Livingston, N.J., by turning back Canadian Stephane Bonneau, 6-2, 1-6, 6-2.

Kriek today will meet the winner Alex Antonitch of Austria, who lost the first eight games before rallying to beat Marcel Freeman, 0-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Antonitch upset third seed Paul Annacone in the second round.

Marc Flur advanced to his first Grand Prix semifinal with a 6-2, 6-3 victory over second-seeded Wally Masur of Australia. Flur will face Christian Saceanu, who pulled away from a 3-3 tie in the third set for a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory over Ken Flach.

Defending champion Pam Shriver beat Gigi Fernandez, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2, in the quarterfinals of a $150,000 Virginia Slims tournament at Newport, R.I., and will face Alycia Moulton of Sacramento in today’s semifinals. Moulton beat Terry Phelps, 6-4, 6-3.

In the other half of the draw, No. 2-seeded Lori McNeil upset by No. 5 Rosalyn Fairbank of San Diego, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4. Fairbank will meet No. 8 Wendy White in the other semifinal. White outlasted Heather Ludloff, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.