Tennis Roundup : Mayotte, Gilbert to Meet in Final of the Paris Open

Tim Mayotte and Brad Gilbert each won three-set semifinal matches Saturday to set up an all-American final in the $840,000 Paris Open.

Mayotte defeated Henri Leconte of France, 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, while Gilbert defeated Michiel Schapers of the Netherlands, 7-5, 5-7, 6-4.

Erratic serving by Leconte, who upset Pat Cash on Friday, helped fifth-seeded Mayotte to a first set win and a 2-0 lead in the second set. But Leconte rallied, taking advantage of poor serving by Mayotte to come back and win the set.

In the third set, Mayotte again went ahead early with a service break. Both players held serve after that as Mayotte moved into his fourth final of the year.

In the other semifinal, Gilbert and Schapers battled to a 5-5 tie in the first set before Gilbert won the last two games. Gilbert led, 5-4, in the second set, and was serving for the match. But Gilbert missed a pair of backhands, and Schapers came back to tie the set and then win it.

The third set was close until Gilbert broke Schapers’ serve in the ninth game and then served out the match.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg defeated his doubles partner, Anders Jarryd, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the final of the $525,000 Stockholm Open.

Edberg, ranked second in the world, will face seventh-seeded Jonas Svensson in a all-Swedish final. Svensson defeated his training partner, Magnus Gustafsson, 6-3, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

Jarryd, who said he played his best tennis of the tournament, couldn’t break Edberg’s serve, failing to capitalize on four break points.

Chris Evert was pushed to her limit by Gabriela Sabatini before finally defeating the 17-year old Argentine, 6-4, 7-6, in the semifinals of the $250,000 Virginia Slims tournament at Worcester, Mass.

Tied 4-4 in the first set, Evert broke Sabatini’s serve for a 5-4 lead and then served out the set. The second set was a series of service breaks, as each player held serve only twice while being broken four times. Included was a 26-point fourth game that left both players gasping.

Sabatini looked fresher and had a good chance to force a third set when she took a 6-5 lead, but Evert rallied to force a tiebreaker, which Evert ran away with, winning 7-1.

In the final, Evert will meet Pam Shriver, who defeated Helena Sukova, 7-5, 6-3.