Tennis Roundup : Gilbert Jumps Ahead Before Kriek Bows Out

Methodical Brad Gilbert won the first two sets handily before Johan Kriek was forced to default with a groin injury in the final of the $415,000 Volvo indoor championship Sunday at Memphis, Tenn.

Gilbert, sixth-seeded, dominated the No. 16 Kriek, 6-2, 6-2, before the premature finish. Krieg said he was injured in the sixth game of the second set.

“I played consistently,” said Gilbert, who has a 6-1 record against Kriek. “I didn’t really go for a lot of winners. I just played the ball back.

“It (the injury) was an unfortunate way for the tournament to end. I played well all week. I just thought if I played one match at a time, things would fall into place.”

Gilbert earned $53,550, while Kriek took home $26,775.

Steffi Graf of West Germany won the first 20 points, then capitalized on two late service breaks in the second set to win the $300,000 Virginia Slims of Washington tournament with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over Zina Garrison at Fairfax, Va.

Graf, the world’s top-ranked player, won 25 of the 29 points in the first set. Garrison did not register a point until the sixth game, and didn’t get a point off Graf’s serve until the second set.

“I was surprised at that beginning,” Graf said. “I was serving well and returning well, and she was tight and didn’t have any power in her strokes.”

Graf, 19, who earned $60,000, has an 84-3 record since the start of 1988. She lost only 15 games in five matches this week, and has won 32 tournaments in her eight-year career. Garrison made $27,000.

Top-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany overpowered unseeded Alexander Volkov of the Soviet Union, 6-1, 6-2, in the $492,500 Stella Artois indoor championships at Milan, Italy.

Becker, ranked fourth in the world, broke his opponent’s serve twice in each set on his way to winning the first prize of $75,000. Volkov, 61st in the ATP standings, received the second prize of $37,500.

John Letts of Pasadena earned one of the six places in the draw for the U.S. Pro Indoor Tennis Championships by scoring a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory over Bill Scanlon in the third round of a qualifying tournament at Philadelphia.

Also earning a spot in the tournament was Jonathan Canter of Los Angeles, who defeated Dan Cassidy, 6-4, 6-0.