Tennis Roundup : McEnroe Loses, Preventing U.S. Sweep

Martin Jaite beat John McEnroe, 6-0, 6-8, 6-3, in the second singles match Sunday to prevent a U.S. sweep over Argentina in the Davis Cup American Zone Group 1 finals at Buenos Aires.

In the opening singles, Andre Agassi edged Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina, 2-6, 6-2, 8-6, as the stronger, deeper U.S. team completed a 4-1 victory.

The U.S., which clinched a victory Saturday, earned a berth in the World Group of 16 teams that will compete for the 1988 Davis Cup.

The usual five-set matches Sunday were reduced to three because the outcome of the tournament already was decided.

In other zone finals, the Soviet Union blanked Holland, 5-0, Austria beat Britain, 5-0, and Indonesia came back from 0-2 to defeat South Korea, 3-2.

In Davis Cup action to determine who will face West Germany in the 1988 final, Sweden, playing at home in Bastad, lost its doubles match with France, as Henri Leconte and Guy Forget defeated Mats Wilander and Anders Jarryd, 4-6, 9-7, 6-2, 6-2.

Sweden, the current Cup holder, leads 2-1 going into today’s two singles matches.

In the semifinal at Dortmund, West Germany, Eric Jelen took only 1 hour 5 minutes to beat Slobodan Zivojinovic, 6-2, 6-2, and complete a 5-0 sweep for West Germany over Yugoslavia.

Top-seeded Jimmy Connors, vying for his first tournament title in nearly four years, advanced to the finals of the $232,050 D.C. tournament by defeating Aaron Krickstein, 6-4, 6-0, at Washington.

Connors, who has never lost to Krickstein, will face third-seeded Andres Gomez today. Gomez will have the advantage of an extra day of rest, having advanced to the rain-delayed final round Saturday.

Connors, ranked No. 8 in the world, won the last nine games of the match in extending his record against Krickstein to 4-0. He has lost only one set to the 20-year-old, whose ranking has jumped 41 notches this year to No. 23.

Top-seeded Tim Mayotte rallied to defeat Johan Kriek and win the men’s singles title in the $175,000 OTB Nabisco-Virginia Slims International tournament at Schenectady, N.Y.

Mayotte, of Boston, earned $18,600 for his 5-7, 6-3, 6-2, victory over Kriek, of Naples, Fla., who earned $9,300 as runner-up.

In the women’s singles final, Gretchen Magers of San Diego prevailed in a close two-set match against Terry Phelps of Larchmont, N.Y., 7-6, 6-4. Magers earned $8,000 for the win. Phelps received $4,000.