TENNIS ROUNDUP : Rostagno Repeats His Victory Over McEnroe

Derrick Rostagno has John McEnroe looking at a comeback for the second time in less than a month.

Rostagno, ranked 113th in the world, duplicated his first-round Wimbledon upset of last month on Thursday with a 6-3, 1-6, 6-1 victory over the world’s former No. 1 player in the third round of the Sovran Bank Classic in Washington.

“I didn’t lose, he played better,” said McEnroe, who found himself in holes when the faster, more aggressive Rostagno broke him to begin the first and third sets.

McEnroe’s loss at Wimbledon prompted him to say he would have to work harder to make another comeback. The second loss to Rostagno came a day after McEnroe said he was looking forward to beating the man who sent him home from England early.

“I just don’t have enough ammunition at this time to hurt him. If someone like that’s doing that to me . . . “ McEnroe said, his voice trailing off. “I never played the way I can play and he played a smart match. He came up with the shots.”

Rostagno, 24, from Brentwood, known before last month more for his easy-going lifestyle than for his on-court accomplishments, had little sympathy for McEnroe’s struggle.

“I think in the time he’s been off tennis has taken a big leap forward,” Rostagno said. “People learned his trick. Perhaps he’s going to have to work harder and improve a little more to get on top of everything again.”

Top-seeded Andre Agassi defeated Gilad Bloom of Israel, 6-1, 7-5, and will play Richey Reneberg, a 6-4, 2-6, 7-5 winner over Australian Darren Cahill.

Sixth-seeded Jim Grabb, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Canada’s Grant Connell, will play Rostagno in the quarterfinals.

Also moving into the quarterfinals were Todd Witsken, a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 winner over No. 4 seeded and defending champion Tim Mayotte; No. 2 Brad Gilbert, who beat Canada’s Andrew Sznajder, 6-2, 6-3; and No. 5 Michael Chang, who defeated Simon Youl of Australia, 6-1, 6-1.

Michael Stich of West Germany pulled off a mild upset, using his big serve and two tiebreakers to beat 10th-seeded Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 7-6, 7-6.

Horst Skoff of Austria upset top-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 7-5, 0-6, 6-4, and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Mercedes Cup at Stuttgart, West Germany.

Gomez, the French Open champion and the fifth-ranked player in the world, rallied after losing the first set to win six games in a row and even the match. But the 16th-seeded Skoff regained his composure and broke Gomez to clinch the match.

Of the top eight seeded players, only third-seeded Emilio Sanchez of Spain advanced, defeating Richard Fromberg of Australia, 6-3, 2-6, 6-2.