TENNIS ROUNDUP : Seles Makes Quick Work of Fernandez in Germany

Monica Seles needed only 54 minutes to defeat Mary Joe Fernandez, 6-0, 6-3, and defend her title at the women’s tournament at Essen, Germany.

The top-ranked Seles, using pinpoint passing shots, won the first nine games before Fernandez made a brief run by winning the next three games.

Seles, though, kept the seventh-ranked Fernandez on the run and easily took the next three games to win at Essen for the third time. Seles won $70,000.

“I definitely played my best tennis here,” said Seles, who won the first set in 21 minutes.

Local favorite Omar Camporese defeated Goran Ivanisevic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, to win the upset-filled indoor event at Milan, Italy.

The first set lasted only 27 minutes as the 13th-ranked Ivanisevic fired eight aces. But Camporese, ranked No. 24, began scoring with sharp returns and blistering passing shots.

“I hoped but didn’t expect his serve to fall off that way,” said Camporese, Italy’s No. 1 player.

The two men are doubles partners. But Ivanisevic, a 20-year-old Croatian, complained that many Italian fans in the crowd of 8,000 whistled between his serves to distract him.

He also lamented that the organizers did not have the music for the band to play the national anthem of his newly independent country.

“It’s normal; that’s Italy,” he said. “Wait for the next time, when there’s a tournament in Croatia.”

Camporese scored decisive breaks in the sixth game of the second set and the third game of the final set.

Ivanisevic double-faulted six times. Camporese had 11 aces and never lost service after the first set.

Second-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia had 12 aces and overpowered third-seeded Laura Gildemeister of Peru, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1, to win a women’s tournament at Amagasaki, Japan.