Tennis Roundup : Gilbert Continues Win Streak, Defeats Edberg

With the U.S. Open starting a week from today, Brad Gilbert will have to be considered a serious challenger in the year’s final Grand Slam tournament.

Finding the form that has escaped him in recent years, Gilbert extended his winning streak to a career-high 17 matches Sunday by beating Stefan Edberg of Sweden, 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (7-5), to win the Assn. of Tennis Professionals Championship at Mason, Ohio.

Gilbert, 28, has won 22 of 23 matches since Wimbledon and is the first player to win three titles in three weeks since Boris Becker in 1986. He also has returned to a top-10 ranking with the best run in his career.

“I’ve had some good stretches before and not been able to get over the hump,” Gilbert said. “I’ve learned how to handle defeat. And I’ve learned how to handle victory better--before I’d get a little overconfident.”

Edberg lost the ATP final for the second consecutive year. Both losses were in third-set tiebreakers.

“It’s hard to be in the final two years in a row and lose 7-6 each year,” he said. “I promise it’s not going to happen next year.”

Edberg was in position to win in the third set, when he was ahead, 6-5, and serving, but Gilbert broke him to force the tiebreaker.

Gilbert’s winning streak is the longest this year on the Grand Prix circuit. He is the first player to reach four consecutive Grand Prix finals since Ivan Lendl played in six in a row in 1982.

The streak comes one year after Gilbert had surgery on his left ankle and both big toes. He went on an intense conditioning program this winter to get into shape.

Ivan Lendl used precise passing shots and service returns for a 6-1, 6-3 victory over John McEnroe and his sixth $900,000 Player’s International Canadian Open title in Montreal.

Lendl, the world’s top-ranked player, won his third consecutive Canadian title.

“Today was very encouraging,” said Lendl, who returned this week from a six-week break and will go after his fourth U.S. Open title in New York. “Winning the tournament after not playing for a while and not playing that well in the first few games, I was happy with that.”

Lendl took a 16-15 advantage against McEnroe with the most one-sided victory since McEnroe beat him by the same score at Brussels in 1984.

Steffi Graf, playing four matches in one day, captured her 10th tournament of the year by defeating Andrea Temesvari of Hungary, 7-5, 6-2, to win the rain-delayed United Jersey Bank tournament at Mahwah, N.J.

It was Graf’s 17th consecutive victory.

“I’ve been in the States for four weeks and won two tournaments,” Graf said. “I have another week to get into shape for the Open, so everything should be all right.”

Graf worked hard and long Sunday. She and Temesvari played two matches because rain postponed Saturday’s semifinals, and Temesvari played well in her quest for her first title since 1985.

Graf breezed into the final with a 6-1, 6-2, victory over Linda Ferrando of Italy.

She also won the doubles title, teaming with Pam Shriver for a 6-2, 6-4 victory over Louise Allen and Laura Gildemeister. Earlier, they advanced to the final by beating Wendy White and Mary Lou Daniels, 6-2, 6-1, in the semifinals, held 30 minutes after Graf won the singles title.

Lori McNeil, trying to regain the form that made her a top-10 player a year ago, beat Elna Reinach, 6-1, 6-3, to win the Virginia Slims of Albuquerque tournament.

The victory for McNeil, seeded fifth, was her first this season on the Virginia Slims tour. McNeil, from Houston, has struggled most of this year, losing six consecutive first-round matches.

Against Reinach, of South Africa, McNeil controlled the match from the beginning.

McNeil took a 4-0 lead in the first set. She broke Reinach in the second game when Reinach double-faulted, and again in the fourth game, when McNeil rallied from a 40-15 deficit.