TENNIS ROUNDUP : Krickstein Wins Title at Tokyo

Aaron Krickstein defeated Carl-Uwe Steeb of West Germany, 6-2, 6-2, in the final of the Seiko tournament Sunday at Tokyo.

It was the fourth-seeded Krickstein’s third tournament victory of the year and it earned him $100,000. Steeb, seeded fifth, received $50,000.

“I feel great. This was my biggest title ever,” Krickstein said.

Krickstein, from Grosse Pointe, Mich., became the first American to win the tournament since Jimmy Connors defeated Ivan Lendl in 1984.

“Many great players have won this tournament. I am happy to be in that category,” Krickstein said. “I got off to a fast start. I was able to hit deep backhands and moved well.”

Steeb said, “I couldn’t play my best tennis. The reason was he did everything better than I was doing.”

Krickstein broke Steeb’s serve in the second and fourth games of the first set, with Steeb often hitting wide or into the net.

In the second game of the second set, Krickstein broke Steeb’s serve again. With the third game tied at deuce, Krickstein served consecutive aces to move ahead, 3-0.

Krickstein, holding a 5-2 lead, broke Steeb to close out the match.

Steeb committed 39 unforced errors against Krickstein’s 23.

On his improvement this year and his return to the top 10, Krickstein said: “A large part of the reason has been due to getting rid of nagging injuries. Now I can improve as well as play.”

Kevin Curren and David Pate beat Andres Gomez of Ecuador and Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4), to win the doubles championship. Curren and Pate split $30,000. Gomez and Zivojinovic shared $15,000.

In the European Indoor women’s tournament final at Zurich, Switzerland, top-seeded Steffi Graf of West Germany defeated fifth-seeded Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia, 6-1, 7-6 (8-6).

Graf showed her superb physical condition when she swept to a 5-0 lead after 14 minutes in the first set with a series of powerful serves and well-placed net shots.

Novotna, who was lethargic and clearly in awe of her 20-year-old opponent at the start of the match, rallied in the second set with a display of fine lobs and backhands.

She took advantage of Graf’s loss of concentration to lead, 2-0, in the tiebreaker. Graf, however, quickly recovered and wrapped up the match.

“I made too many mistakes in the second set . . . and found it harder to concentrate,” Graf said.

Paul Annacone outlasted Kelly Evernden of New Zealand, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, in the final of a Grand Prix tournament at Vienna.

Annacone played decisively and with confidence at the net. Evernden answered with deep cross-court backhands and perfectly timed passing shots which often left Annacone stranded. Both served confidently and both had their lapses of concentration.

The 28-year-old Evernden opened the match by winning the first three games, breaking Annacone’ serve twice. But Annacone tied the set, 5-5, before they both held service to force the tiebreaker.

Evernden took a 4-1 lead in the second set, only to have Annacone win 11 of the next 13 games to take a two sets to one lead.

After the New Zealander tied the match at two sets apiece, both players lost their service games to open the fifth set. After both struggled to hold serve, Annacone finally broke Evernden in the eighth game, then held his own serve to win.