TENNIS ROUNDUP : Gomez Looks Impressive Again, Takes Title in Brazil

Andres Gomez of Ecuador, beginning to look very much like he did when he won the French Open last year, upset Javier Sanchez of Spain to win the Philips Open Sunday at Brasilia, Brazil.

Gomez, ranked 142nd in the world after climbing as high as fourth in 1990, won the match, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

“Not even the people closest to me have any idea of what this tournament means to me,” Gomez said after the match.

Gomez collected $32,000 with the victory. Sanchez earned $18,200.

The 31-year-old Gomez demonstrated a sharp backhand in the first set and kept Sanchez off balance. He broke the Spaniard in the fifth game and later closed out the set. Sanchez, 23, ranked 39th, used a superb serve and strong cross-court volleys in the second set but it wasn’t enough.

Thomas Muster defeated the fourth-seeded Horst Skoff, 6-2, 6-4, in an all-Austrian final of the Geneva Open.

It was the 10th title of Muster’s career and the second time the 23-year-old left-hander has beaten Skoff this year. Muster beat Skoff at Florence, Italy, in June.

Skoff, the 1990 Geneva Open champion and ranked 25th in the world, started the match badly and said his service let him down. He dropped his service twice in the 28-minute first set and put in only 57% of his first serves.

“Horst missed a lot of balls,” Muster said. “My job was just to run and put the ball back in play.”

Guy Forget of France defended his title in the Bordeaux Open with a 6-1, 6-3 victory over countryman Oliver Delaitre.

It was the fourth victory of the year for Forget.

It was the seventh Grand Prix victory for Forget, who passed the $2.5-million mark in earnings with the $38,800 winner’s check.