TENNIS ROUNDUP : Different Racket Makes Difference for Rostagno

Derrick Rostagno of Brentwood switched rackets and found his game, keeping Andrei Chesnokov off balance Saturday with pinpoint drop shots and cross-court passes to reach the finals of the Volvo International.

The victory capped a week of upsets at New Haven, Conn., where all but one of the 16 seeded players lost before the semifinals. Rostagno beat fifth-seeded Chesnokov, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.

Rostagno, ranked 79th in the world, faces Todd Woodbridge for the title. Earlier, Woodbridge ousted fellow Australian Mark Woodforde, 1-6, 6-4, 6-3.

It will be the first tour title for either Woodbridge and Rostagno.

For the second consecutive day, Rostagno found his game after changing rackets. He switched to a lighter, more tightly strung racket after falling behind in the first set, 5-2. He lost only four games the rest of the match.

“I just had to find the feel. Once I did, I felt great,” Rostagno said. “I don’t know what the difference was. I just felt better.”

Rostagno made a similar switch Friday against Christo van Rensburg and won seven games in a row in his 7-5, 6-0 victory.

Woodbridge said he didn’t panic when he lost the first set, 6-1.

“Mark just didn’t miss anything. He played beautiful tennis,” he said. “I knew I had to just try to stay in there because it’s hard to play that kind of tennis for a full match.”

Top-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany trailed 0-2 in the second set before winning six of seven games to beat No. 4 Jay Berger, 6-4, 6-3, in the semifinals of the U.S. Hardcourts championship at Indianapolis.

Becker advanced to today’s final in his only hardcourt event before the U.S. Open begins Aug. 27.

The world’s third-ranked player will face unseeded Peter Lundgren, who scored his second consecutive upset with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over No. 14 Richey Reneberg.

Becker, the U.S. Hardcourts champion in 1988, took Berger to deuce three times in the third game before Berger netted a forehand that pulled Becker within 1-2.

“All of a sudden I felt good again and everything seemed to work well for me,” said Becker, who won 13 of the next 14 points.

Berger has never beaten Becker in five career meetings, and he said he knew immediately that it wouldn’t happen here.

“The heat was getting to me. When we warmed up, we knew whatever happened on the court was not going to be fun. It wasn’t,” said Berger, ranked 13th in the world.

Lundgren, who upset second-seeded Andre Agassi in the quarterfinals, took an hour and 15 minutes to beat Reneberg and used two aces--as he did against Agassi--to close out the match.

“I was cruising today. I felt very confident. I was serving anywhere I want, and I got a lot of free points,” Lundgren said.

Becker said he’s wary of Lundgren.

“When he’s hot, he’s hot. He has won five matches and he’s on a good streak. It’s tough to play him,” said Becker, who had a message for Lundgren.

“I’m playing close to my best right now.”