TENNIS ROUNDUP : Edberg Needs 2 1/2 Hours to Wear Down Agassi

Top-ranked Stefan Edberg of Sweden became the first semifinalist at the ATP World Championships Wednesday night when he outlasted Andre Agassi, 7-6 (7-4), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), in a match that went 2 hours 36 minutes at Frankfurt, Germany.

In other matches, Boris Becker of Germany resumed his challenge for Edberg’s top spot by overcoming Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, and Pete Sampras defeated Emilio Sanchez of Spain, 6-2, 6-4.

The tournament pits the top eight players in the world, who are split into two groups. After round-robin play, the two top players from each group advance to the semifinals of the $2-million event, the season-ending tournament formerly known as the Masters.

Agassi wasted a chance to go ahead, 5-2, in the final-set tiebreaker when he hit a volley long, and Edberg rallied to win.

“It’s a disappointing loss,” Agassi said, “but I made him earn his money.”

U.S. Open champion Gabriela Sabatini barely held off Jana Novotna, 6-1, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), in the final first-round match of the $3-million Virginia Slims Championships at New York.

Earlier, second-seeded Monica Seles ousted Austrian Barbara Paulus, 6-2, 6-2, and No. 4-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez defeated Nathalie Tauziat of France, 6-1, 7-6 (7-3).

Only one seeded player, No. 7 Zina Garrison, failed to win in the opening round of the 16-player tournament.

The quarterfinal pairings will pit top-seeded Steffi Graf against No. 6 Katerina Maleeva, Sabatini against Conchita Martinez, Fernandez against No. 8 Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere and Seles against Arantxa Sanchez Vicario.

Sabatini, seeded third, had a 5-2 lead in the second set, before Novotna challenged her.

Top-seeded Jacques Manset of Ventura beat Dennis McWilliams of Southlake, Tex., 6-1, 6-2, in the USTA 30-and-over indoor championships at Kiamesha Lake, N.Y.

Unseeded Andre DuPre of West-hampton Beach, N.Y., upset No. 3 Kim Vieira of Newport Beach, 6-1, 6-4, and No. 4 Rick Hagenbuch of Santa Barbara outlasted Drew Robinson of Lynchburg, Va., 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-0.