TENNIS ROUNDUP : Meskhi Beats Navratilova, Zvereva

Leila Meskhi eliminated defending champion and top-seeded Martina Navratilova and then outlasted fellow Soviet Natalia Zvereva to reach the final of the Family Circle Magazine Cup Saturday.

The ninth-seeded Meskhi edged No. 8 Zvereva, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4, to earn a spot opposite No. 2 Gabriela Sabatini in today’s championship match at Hilton Head, S.C.

Sabatini defeated No. 3 Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, 4-6, 6-4, 6-3, in the other semifinal.

Earlier Saturday, Meskhi won a single game to complete a rain-interrupted victory over Navratilova, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4.

Meskhi’s first victory over Navratilova followed a victory earlier in the tournament over sixth-seeded Jennifer Capriati, the Soviet’s first defeat of a top 10 player. Navratilova is ranked third in the world and Capriati 10th. Meskhi is No. 17.

Meskhi, 23, made the quarterfinals of last year’s U.S. Open. With Zvereva acting as translator, Meskhi said she is playing even better now.

Asked how Meskhi might play Sabatini, Zvereva translated: “She says she doesn’t want to say it today. She wants to do it tomorrow.”

When play resumed Saturday, Meskhi led Navratilova, 5-4, in the final set. Navratilova saved four match points before hitting a forehand long to give Meskhi the match.

Navratilova, who has 154 singles victories, said she had never had play suspended so late in a match. But she said she didn’t worry about it beforehand.

“At that point it’s such a crapshoot. I think if it had been 2-all in the third I would have been a lot more nervous,” she said.

Sabatini has a 23-2 match record this year and is 5-0 in three-setters. She will be making her second appearance in the Family Circle finals. She lost in three sets to Navratilova in 1988.

Derrick Rostagno of Brentwood, seeded fourth, beat second-seeded Pete Sampras of Rancho Palos Verdes, 7-5, 6-4, to advance to the final of a rain-delayed tournament at Orlando, Fla.

Top-seeded Andre Agassi moved into his first final of the year after a 6-4, 7-6 victory over MaliVai Washington. Washington began the day by beating defending champion Brad Gilbert, 6-2, 6-7 (6-8), 6-2, in a quarterfinal carried over from Friday.

Agassi reached the semifinals Saturday by completing his rain-delayed quarterfinal victory over Chuck Adams, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4).

With Rostagno serving at 5-5, love-15, Sampras was forced to take a timeout because of a nose bleed.

Rostagno held serve and won the game with a pair of service aces. Then Sampras double-faulted to set up set point, and Rostagno hit a forehand cross-court winner for the set.

Each player had a break in the second set before Sampras served at 4-5. He double-faulted and then fought off two match points before pushing a backhand long.

Washington, who lost to Gilbert in last year’s semifinals, turned the tables this time. Gilbert, coming off last weekend’s United States victory over Mexico in Davis Cup play, had struggled in two earlier matches.