Potier Pulls 2nd Straight Tennis Upset

Unseeded Jerome Potier of France, ranked 254th in the world, pulled his second straight major upset in the $200,000 Swatch Open tennis tournament today when he defeated fifth-seeded Alberto Mancini of Argentina to move into the semifinals.

Yugoslav teen-ager Goran Ivanisevic also moved into the semifinals by beating Fernando Luna of Spain 7-6 (7-5) 6-3.

In a match between the final two seeds left in the tournament, No. 6 Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union beat No. 3 Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. The match was delayed two hours because of rain.

Potier had to rally to beat Mancini, the world’s 32nd-ranked player, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.

It was the second straight seed beaten by the unseeded Potier. In the second round, he beat No. 4 Ronald Agenor of Haiti.

“Mancini was playing so hard in the first set, I felt I was in the first row of the stands to get some of the balls,” Potier said. “In the middle of the second set, I changed my tactics and my racket. I felt the first racket didn’t respond well to what I was doing.”

Potier lost to countryman Henri Leconte in last year’s final. Leconte was eliminated in the second round this year as the top four seeds failed to survive the second round.

Ivanisevic, 17, ranked 88th in the world, made a semifinal of a Grand Prix tournament for the first time.

The 6-foot-5 Yugoslav has a booming serve, even on the slow clay, and used it to advantage against Luna.