Tennis Roundup : Jarryd, Gilbert Prevail in San Francisco

Unseeded Anders Jarryd of Sweden upset fifth-seeded Kevin Curren, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, Saturday to advance to the final of the $425,000 Volvo tennis tournament in San Francisco.

Jarryd will play third-seeded Brad Gilbert, who defeated Kelly Evernden of New Zealand, 4-6, 6-1, 7-6 (7-2).

Jarryd said he grew stronger as the match progressed.

“I picked up my game a little bit,” he said. “This surface (an indoor rubberized sheet) suits my game very well. The way I’m playing now, I am very confident.”

After neither player broke serve in the second set, Jarryd took a 4-0 lead in the tiebreaker. Curren rallied to gain a 5-4 edge, but Jarryd evened the score with an unreturnable serve and then hit a cross-court backhand passing shot to win the tiebreaker.

Ivan Lendl, the world’s top-ranked tennis player, defeated Jaime Yzaga of Peru, 6-3, 6-3, to reach the final of a $255,000 tournament at Bordeaux, France.

Lendl will meet second-seeded Emilio Sanchez of Spain in today’s final. Sanchez defeated France’s Jean-Philippe Fleurian, 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 6-1, in the other semifinal.

Sanchez had a tough time with Fleurian, who had previously upset third-seeded Horst Skoff of Austria and fifth-seeded Goran Prpic of Yugoslavia.

After losing the first-set tiebreaker, Sanchez held to win the second set. He then dominated the third set, winning six consecutive games after Fleurian held service in the first game.

“I was doubting myself after the first set,” Sanchez said. “But I felt I could win because I knew it would be difficult for him to keep up the pace.”

Said Fleurian: “I did very well in the first two sets, but my legs gave out.”

After struggling in the previous two tournaments, Lendl had no trouble beating the fourth-seeded Yzaga. In the first set, Lendl broke Yzaga’s service in the third and ninth games when Yzaga faltered.

Argentina’s Guillermo Perez-Roldan, the seventh and only remaining seeded player, rallied to beat Pavel Vojtisek of West Germany, 4-6, 6-4, 6-1, and reach the final of a $123,400 tournament at Palermo, Italy.

He will face Paolo Cane of Italy, who defeated eighth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Yugoslavia, 6-4, 6-3.

Martina Navratilova defeated Betsy Nagelsen, 6-2, 7-5, to win the women’s tournament at Haverford, Pa., for the third consecutive time.

After three consecutive service breaks to start the match, Navratilova never again allowed Nagelsen a break point.