TENNIS ROUNDUP : After Loss, Garrison Leads U.S. Win in Doubles

Gigi Fernandez told Zina Garrison she was under no pressure in her Federation Cup singles match Sunday at Norcross, Ga., assuring her that the United States would win the doubles anyway.

“They told me I didn’t let anyone down,” Garrison said after her singles loss gave the Soviet Union a 1-1 tie.

But the Americans managed to retain their championship by winning the doubles match. Garrison and Fernandez beat the Soviet Union’s Natalia Zvereva and Larisa Savchenko, 6-4, 6-3, for the 14th American victory in 28 years.

“It was 2-1,” Garrison said. “It doesn’t matter how you win it.”

The Americans had to win the doubles after Zvereva beat Garrison, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, in the No. 1 singles match.

Jennifer Capriati had given the United States the lead in No. 2 singles with a 7-6 (7-3), 6-4 victory over Leila Meskhi.

It took Capriati 1 hour 24 minutes to win and improve her record to 5-0 in her first Federation Cup appearance.

“This is about as high as it gets,” Fernandez said.

Said Zvereva: “It was disappointing, but I don’t think it’s the end of a tennis career. I just couldn’t play my best game (in doubles). The first set I wasn’t all there. I was somewhere else.”

The Americans trailed, 2-1 and 3-2, in the first set of doubles and then won four of the last five games to get the upper hand.

Michael Chang overcame the heat and an early deficit to beat Jay Berger, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2), in the final of the $1.5-million Canadian Open at Toronto.

Half of the 12 service breaks in the match occurred in the 77-minute third set. Chang, seeded seventh, had three breaks in the set, but the fourth-seeded Berger overcame each with breaks of his own to tie the match.

Chang had won his two previous matches after losing the first set, beating top-seeded Andre Agassi and fifth-seeded Pete Sampras.

Berger used an aggressive approach against Chang, especially when he took advantage of Chang’s weak second serve to hit powerful winners, but the strategy often worked against him as Chang doggedly tracked down deep volleys from the net and returned effective passing shots.

In the tiebreaker, Berger failed on his first serve on four of his five service chances and Chang converted each opportunity for mini-breaks. Berger double-faulted to give Chang a 3-1 lead. Berger committed five unforced errors in the tiebreaker.

“A lot of weird things happened, but Michael hung in as he did all week and that’s why he’s a great player,” Berger said. “The heat was tough, but it was hot for both of us.”

One of those odd incidents occurred in the first game of the final set, which went to deuce seven times before Chang broke Berger. Berger was distracted before serving at 30-40 when the public-address system malfunctioned, sending an electronic buzz over the court. Then, just before Chang got the break, a cellular telephone rang in one of the corporate boxes while the point was being played. Chang slammed a forehand past Berger when he pulled up short.