Lendl and Edberg Struggle to Wins in Arizona Tournament Semifinals

Top-seeded Ivan Lendl and second-seeded Stefan Edberg scored difficult semifinal victories Saturday and will meet in today’s final of the $415,000 Eagle tennis tournament.

Lendl, the top-ranked men’s player in the world, eliminated fifth-seeded Emilio Sanchez, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3, in a 2-hour 21-minute match that ended in twilight.

In an earlier match on the outdoor hardcourts of the Scottsdale Princess Hotel, Edberg struggled to beat unseeded Amos Mansdorf of Israel, 6-7, 6-4, 6-1.

Edberg, the 1988 Wimbledon champion currently ranked fourth in the world, got his powerful serve working midway through the 1-hour 52-minute match.

“It took a while before I finally came through,” Edberg said after playing just his fifth match since suffering a back injury at the Australian Open in late January. “The back was no problem. I was serving well all day. Mansdorf played well the first two sets. I broke him twice in the last set, and when I broke him to go up 3-2, I knew I had him. He mentally got tired after that.”

Mansdorf, 23, seemed in control until Edberg broke him for the first time in the final game of the second set.