TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sampras Has Little Trouble Beating McEnroe

Defending champion Pete Sampras served his 10th ace on the second match point to beat fourth-seeded John McEnroe, 6-2, 6-4, Saturday in a semifinal of the U.S. Pro Indoor Championships at Philadelphia.

Sampras, seeded second, served sharply and made strong drives from the backcourt, often passing McEnroe and keeping him off balance.

McEnroe made good on fewer than half his first serves, and 18 of his 30 second serves were won by Sampras. Sampras was good on 56% of his first serves and won 13 of his 25 second serves.

“He’s a great server,” said McEnroe, who lost to Sampras for the third time in three meetings. “I didn’t hit my first serve as well as I could have, but he hit his well, and it just sets that tone.

“He’s a great player,” McEnroe said. “He’s going to be even a better player. He’s got the potential to be the No. 1 player in the world. He’s got all the tools.”

Sampras, the U.S. Open champion, will meet top-seeded Ivan Lendl, who rallied from 0-3 in the final set to beat third-seeded Brad Gilbert, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.

Stefan Edberg regained the No.-1 world ranking despite losing his semifinal match in the Donnay Indoor Championship at Brussels, after defending champion Boris Becker was forced to withdraw from the other semifinal because of injury.

Guy Forget, ranked 11th in the world, defeated Edberg, 3-6, 6-0, 6-3, and will play wild-card entrant Andrei Cherkasov of the Soviet Union in today’s final. Cherkasov and Becker were tied at one set each and 2-2 when Becker retired with a thigh strain.

Becker took the top ranking from Edberg by winning the Australian Open last month. Edberg held the top spot for 24 weeks before that.

Top-seeded Martina Navratilova defeated Helena Sukova, 6-3, 6-2, in the semifinals of the Virginia Slims of Chicago tournament.

Seeking her 11th Chicago title, Navratilova meets fifth-seeded Zina Garrison in today’s final. Garrison, who has beaten Navratilova only once in 30 meetings, beat Helen Kelesi of Canada, 6-1, 6-2.