Curren Beats Mayotte, Gains Semifinals

Kevin Curren upset fellow American Tim Mayotte, 3-6, 6-4, 7-5, Friday to reach the semifinals of the Player’s International tennis tournament.

Curren, seeded 14th, won each of the last two sets on service breaks.

He said endurance was a key factor, with temperatures in the mid-90s and a swirling wind blowing balls off line.

“It was just one of those matches where you had to hang tough,” said Curren, who is coming off an injury and said he was not yet in peak form. “I don’t think I made a lot of big shots. It was just a matter of who made the fewest errors.

Mayotte, seeded sixth, was clearly tired after playing a tournament-record 38-game match Thursday in beating Tim Wilkison

Curren will meet either John McEnroe or Australian Mark Woodeforde in one of the semifinals. In other quarterfinals Friday, top-seeded Ivan Lendl met unseeded Australian John Frawley and No. 4 seed Jimmy Connors played Pat Cash of Australia.