Tennis Roundup : Gomez Surprises Lendl in Barcelona Semifinals

Andres Gomez of Ecuador, ranked 30th in the world, upset Ivan Lendl, 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 9-7, Saturday in the semifinals of a $500,000 tennis tournament at Barcelona, Spain.

Lendl, ranked No. 1, made several unforced errors in key games in the second and third sets. He was favored to win the clay-court tournament, which he won in 1981 and 1982.

Gomez will face Horst Skoff of Austria in today’s final. Skoff advanced by beating Argentin’s Alberto Mancini, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

Skoff reached the semifinals earlier Saturday by beating countryman Thomas Munster, 6-4, 6-3, in a match that had been delayed by rain Friday.

Lendl started strongly, breaking Gomez three times in the first set. But after losing his service early in the second set, Gomez broke back to pull even at 4-4 and hung on to force a tiebreaker. Lendl squandered three break points that would have had him serving for the match.

Gomez won the tiebreaker, 7-5. In the final set, Lendl lost three service games, the last of which gave Gomez an 8-7 lead.

Serving for the match, Gomez quickly led, 40-0. Lendl saved two match points before Gomez hit a cross-court winner.

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova advanced to the final of a $250,000 tournament in Dallas, easily defeating third-seeded Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-2, 6-3. Navratilova had beaten Maleeva, 6-0, 6-0, in the U.S. Open two weeks ago.

“I knew it wouldn’t be love and love again; she was stepping into the ball and taking it on the rise,” Navratilova said. “And she served very well. My first-serve percentage was quite high. She has a very good return of serve, and I was able to keep her off balance, so that felt good.”

Navratilova will meet Monica Seles of Yugoslavia for the first time tonight in the final. Seles, 15, beat unseeded Anne Smith of Dallas in the other semifinal, 6-1, 6-2.