Tennis Roundup : Berger Upsets Edberg in U.S. Hardcourt Semifinal

Jay Berger upset top-seeded Stefan Edberg, 6-4, 6-2, and John McEnroe took another step in his drive to regain the world’s No. 1 ranking by defeating Aaron Krickstein, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), Saturday in the semifinals of the U.S. Hardcourt Championships at Indianapolis.

McEnroe, seeded second, plays Berger, No. 5, in today’s title match.

Berger had to wait through a rain delay of 2 hours 40 minutes to defeat Edberg, the world’s third-ranked player. The match was delayed by heavy rain and hail after Berger won the first set, 6-4, and took a 1-0 lead in the second set with a service break.

Berger, ranked No. 22 in the world, held serve in the first game after play was resumed. After Edberg held, Berger won the next three games for a 5-1 lead. Edberg held in the seventh game, but Berger closed out the 77-minute match on his second opportunity when Edberg was wide with a return.

McEnroe, who had lost only 14 games and one set in reaching the semifinals, lost only eight points as he took the first five games in just 18 minutes.

McEnroe won 92% of his successful first serves in the opening set.

In the second set, Krickstein took a 5-3 advantage before McEnroe came back to force the tiebreaker.

The victory gave McEnroe, 29-4 in tour matches this year and ranked sixth in the world, a chance for his third championship of 1989 and his 75th overall as he tunes up to seek a fifth U.S. Open title.

Second-seeded Brad Gilbert broke fourth-seeded Jim Courier five times in seven chances in a 6-2, 6-0 victory to advance to the final of the Swiss Army Knife Open at West Orange, N.J.

Gilbert, the No. 9 player in the world, needed just 66 minutes to eliminate Courier after rain delayed their match 10 hours.

Gilbert will meet Jason Stoltenberg of Australia in today’s final. Stoltenberg defeated Chris Bailey of England, 6-4, 6-3, in a match that started on an outdoor court at Newark Academy and ended on an indoor court at the West Orange Tennis Club.

Gilbert did not have any problems with Courier, 18, who has risen from No. 360 to No. 36 in one year.

“I hammered him,” Gilbert said. “I hammered him in every phase of the game.”

Stoltenberg will be making his first Grand Prix final appearance.

Fourth-seeded Nicole Hummel of San Marino defeated fifth-seeded Jill Brenner of Lakeland, Fla., 6-0, 6-3, to win the United States Tennis Assn. girls’ 16-and-under national championship at Charleston, W.Va.