TENNIS ROUNDUP : McEnroe Wins Whale of a Match Over Melville

John McEnroe, ranked 11th in the world, had to struggle for 2 hours 10 minutes before beating fellow American Scott Melville, ranked 322nd, in a semifinal match of the Swiss Indoor tournament Saturday.

The third-seeded McEnroe, seeking his 76th singles title, reached his first final of the year, outlasting Melville, from San Marino, 6-2, 2-6, 6-3.

In a battle of left-handers, McEnroe will meet second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Yugoslavia in today’s final. Ivanisevic defeated Finland’s Veli Paloheimo, 6-2, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

Americans Brad Gilbert and Aaron Krickstein reached the final of the Queensland Open at Brisbane, Australia.

The top-seeded Gilbert defeated Carl-Uwe Steeb of West Germany, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, and Krickstein, seeded second, defeated John Fitzgerald of Australia, 6-2, 6-0.

Steffi Graf of West Germany and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, the top-seeded players, scored straight-set semifinal victories at Leipzig, East Germany.

Graf defeated Conchita Martinez of Spain, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-4). Sanchez Vicario had an easier time against Barbara Paulus of Austria, winning, 6-0, 7-5.

Second-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France and No. 8 Anke Huber of West Germany advanced to the final of a tournament at Bayonne, France.

Huber, 15, beat Catherine Tanvier of France, 6-0, 6-4. Tauziat, ranked 17th in the world, defeated unseeded Noelle Van Lottum of the Netherlands, 6-3, 6-1.