TENNIS ROUNDUP : Lendl Gets Ready and Gets a Win

Ivan Lendl ended a six-month victory drought just in time for the U.S. Open, defeating top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden, 6-3, 6-2, Sunday in the Norstar Bank Hamlet Challenge Cup at Commack, N.Y.

Lendl, who was slow in recovering from surgery to his right hand in May, needed only 81 minutes to dispose of Edberg, who is ranked second in the world.

It was the fifth Hamlet Challenge title for Lendl, who was cautious about what this might mean for his chances in the U.S. Open.

“Winning breeds winning,” Lendl said. “It was nice to win this tournament. I knew my game would come back but one match shouldn’t make me overconfident.”

Lendl, who earned $32,400, was winless since titles at Philadelphia and Memphis in February.

The win gave Lendl, who is ranked fifth in the world, a 13-10 series lead over Edberg.

Edberg, the Hamlet winner last year, committed 15 volley errors and only broke Lendl’s serve once, at 1-4 in the opening set. The Swede was two points away from tying the set, at 4-4, but Lendl won the next 13 points to run out the set.

“I played a good point at 15-30 in that eighth game,” Lendl said. “I kept pounding his backhand and he finally hit one into the net. Then he couldn’t return a serve and I aced him.”

Wimbledon champion Michael Stich did not lose a set while winning the OTB International, beating Emilio Sanchez of Spain, 6-2, 6-4, in the final at Schenectady, N.Y.

Stich finished off the third-seeded Sanchez in 1 hour 10 minutes to take the $18,300 first prize and get a tuneup before this week’s U.S. Open.

“To win the tournament is the best inspiration you can have,” said Stich, who will face Jacco Eltingh of the Netherlands in the first round of the Open today.

Sanchez said he felt the pressure of facing the world’s third-ranked player for the first time.

“I was having pressure all the time, and he was very relaxed,” Sanchez said. “I think that was the key to the game.”

Stich came to the net often, including a volley-winning dink in the eighth game of the second set that incited Sanchez to throw aside his racket in disgust.

Sanchez then amused the packed crowd by telling a ball boy to receive the next serve from Stich for him. The ball boy did just that to an 80-m.p.h. serve, inciting the heaviest applause of the match and the amusement of both players.

“His return was pretty good,” Sanchez joked after the match.

In the women’s final, Brenda Schultz of the Netherlands beat Alexia Dechaume of France, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.