Los Angeles Tennis Tournament : Edberg Holds Off a Wounded Annacone

Stefan Edberg looked across the court and wasn’t quite sure what he was seeing.

His opponent, Paul Annacone, played from the baseline, hitting off-speed shots mixed with hard drives in the second set. That was the first surprise because Annacone has made his name as a serve-and-volley artist.

Then, at times, Annacone would be limping between points and even had problems getting out of his chair after changeovers. But a moment later, he would hit a running cross-court forehand winner or block a service return down the line for yet another winner.

Even after Edberg secured a 6-1, 7-5 quarterfinal victory over Annacone in the $315,000 Volvo/Los Angeles tennis tournament Friday night, he still wasn’t sure what really happened out on the court at UCLA’s L.A. Tennis Center.

“What can I say?” said Edberg, the tournament’s top-seeded player. “I had problems with his backhand. He didn’t seem to care too much. It was a very strange, very hard match to play. . . . I couldn’t hardly hit a ball in the court.”

For Edberg, the match stopped making sense from the moment he took the court against Annacone. Edberg ran away with the first set, winning in 22 minutes as he broke Annacone twice and lost just four points on his own serve in the first set.

The second set turned almost as quickly. Edberg had his chances to break Annacone in the opening game and squandered two break points before Annacone held. Then, Annacone broke at 30 in the next game when Edberg punched a forehand volley wide.

Annacone, ranked No. 40 in the world, built a 5-2 lead as he managed to break again in the fourth game. Edberg pulled to 3-5 on his serve, and Annacone was serving to push the match to a third set. Which wouldn’t be much of a surprise because, before Friday, none of the contests in their series had been completed in straight sets.

Annacone was two points from taking the set. But Edberg put away a backhand volley to go up, 40-30, and won the game with a backhand return at Annacone’s feet.

Then, Edberg had three aces and a service winner to hold at love, pulling even at 5-5. In the 11th game, the No. 2-ranked Edberg broke when Annacone dumped a forehand drop volley into the net. One game later, Edberg completed the victory by serving an ace on his second match point.

Afterward, Annacone provided the explanation that was obvious to most observers who watched him hobble through the match.

“I hurt my back,” he said. “Last night when I got off the court, it was stiff. I received treatment and practiced today. And I received treatment before the match. It felt all right, and I felt it would loosen up once I started.

“But in the first game, he hit a ball behind me. I changed directions, and it went from bad to really bad.”

In other quarterfinal action Friday, second-seeded Brad Gilbert rolled to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Eliot Teltscher; third-seeded David Pate rallied to beat 17-year-old Andre Agassi, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2, and Tim Wilkison outlasted qualifier Marty Davis, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4.

The semifinals will be played today, with Pate meeting Gilbert and Wilkison facing Edberg. The finals are scheduled Sunday. Annacone said that if he had been broken in the opening game of the second set, he would have been forced to default the match because of the injury. More than anything, Annacone was troubled that he couldn’t put forth a better effort for the spectators.

Like everyone else, Annacone had high expectations for the match with Edberg. Two years ago, the two played a classic three-set final, which Annacone won, 7-6, 6-7, 7-6. Since then, Edberg’s career has blossomed, while Annacone’s has slipped.

“It’s a shame,” Annacone said. “I’ve been playing well this week and I feel I’ve been hitting the ball really well. And I’ve been serving well. I said earlier this week, I was hoping someone will come through here, and deep down, I was hoping it would be me.”

There was one other similarity for Annacone this week in Los Angeles. He had suffered an injury in his match against Edberg two years ago, but it wasn’t quite as bad as Friday’s injury. He won in Los Angeles and reached the semifinals a week later in San Francisco. Annacone followed with another title, a semifinal appearance and a final appearance.

“I was kind of hoping it was a good omen,” he said of the injury. “ . . . I was hoping this was a sign it was someone looking out for me again. I feel bad for the people; this potentially could have been a good match. And I feel bad for me; I was starting to play better again. I love playing in L.A. and the whole environment here. I hate to go out on a note like this.”

Edberg, obviously, found it hard to play against an injured opponent who was still managing to come up with great shots. Afterward, he was shaking his head about the quarterfinal match with Annacone.

“I felt very empty,” he said. “I could not concentrate. I didn’t know what was happening. I haven’t felt that great this week. But I seem to play well when I have to. That’s really good to know.”