Tennis Roundup : Wilander Defeats Carlsson for Clay Court Title

Having trouble winning points on his serve, Mats Wilander decided to attack Kent Carlsson’s.

Wilander broke Carlsson’s serve four times in the first set and five times in all while scoring a 7-5, 6-3 victory Sunday in the all-Swedish final of the $375,000 U.S. Clay Court Championships at Indianapolis.

“I was trying to attack his second serve,” said Wilander, who earned $51,000. “I decided I had to come into the net. I thought he’d be a little tired and I could get the ball by him.

“To me, the key to the match was the last game of the first set (when Wilander broke Carlsson). For me to win without the tie-breaker was very important.”

It was the second victory over Carlsson in a final in as many weeks for Wilander, No. 2 in the world. He won the U.S. Pro Championships last week in Boston.

“Against Kent these two weeks, it feels like I get an edge after the first set,” Wilander said. “I get more confidence. The key for me is the first set.

“He gets very tired, he works so much. In the second set, I’m as tired as he is, but because I won the first set I can relax more.”

Carlsson, who broke Wilander three times in the first set, survived triple set-point to pull even, 5-5.

But Wilander held serve for 6-5 and broke Carlsson at deuce to take the first set. Wilander broke Carlsson again in the second game of the final set to build a 3-0 lead.

Top-seeded Pam Shriver defeated Wendy White, 6-2, 6-4, to win the $150,000 Virginia Slims of Newport, R.I., for the second straight year.

Shriver earned $30,500 in the only women’s grand prix stop in the United States played on grass.

Shriver, No. 5 in the world, defeated White for the eighth straight time.

“It’s always straight sets (against White), but respectable straight sets,” Shriver said.

White, seeded No. 8 and ranked 38th in the world, won $13,000.

White had break points in each of Shriver’s first three service games, but couldn’t capitalize. Shriver trailed, 2-1, in the second set before taking command.

Top-seeded Johan Kriek defeated Christian Saceanu of West Germany, 7-6, 3-6, 6-2, to win the $125,000 Volvo-New Jersey championship at Livingston, N.J., and win his first tournament title in more than two years.

It took Kriek 2 hours 10 minutes to turn back the unseeded 19-year-old Saceanu, playing his first Grand Prix final. Kriek earned $17,880 in winning a title he also won in 1984, and Saceanu earned his biggest paycheck, $8,940.

Kriek fought off two set points in the first set and rallied from a 3-0 deficit to win the tiebreaker, but had his serve broken three times in losing the second set.

Saceanu had two break points in the first game of the third set, but couldn’t capitalize, allowing Kriek to take control with his potent serve. Kriek had 16 aces in the match.

Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia and Jan Gunnarsson of Sweden advanced to the final of the $231,000 Mercedes Cup Grand Prix tournament with straight-set semifinal victories at Stuttgart, West Germany.

Mecir, No. 5 in the world, took 77 minutes to overcome his Czech Davis Cup doubles partner Tomas Smid, 6-3, 6-3.

Gunnarsson, seeded 13th, ousted Carl-Uwe Steeb of West Germany, 6-4, 7-6.

Emilio Sanchez of Spain defeated Ronald Agenor, 5-7, 6-4, 6-3, to win a $145,000 Grand Prix tournament at Bordeaux, France, beating the Haitian in a final for the second consecutive week.

Sanchez beat Agenor in the final at Gstaad, Switzerland, a week ago. Agenor, who lives in Bordeaux, has lost all five matches he has played against Sanchez.