TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sampras Keeps Up Habit at U.S. Pro Indoor Finals

Second-seeded Pete Sampras reached the final of the U.S. Pro Indoor tennis tournament for the third consecutive year with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Brad Gilbert on Saturday in Philadelphia.

In the final today, Sampras will meet 16th-seeded Amos Mansdorf, who advanced with a 5-7, 6-3, 6-2 victory over 14th-seeded Francisco Clavet of Spain.

“Today I played one of my better matches,” Sampras said. “I had concentration and I put pressure on him. . . . My deep shots allowed me to come to the net.

“I love Philadelphia. This is my third year in a row in the finals. I always come here expecting to win.”

Sampras, 20, won the tournament two years ago and lost last year’s final to Ivan Lendl.

“I’ve been struggling the last three weeks, and Sampras hit harder than the three guys I played before in this tournament,” Gilbert said. “He hits the ball so hard that he forced me into mistakes. He’s so aggressive.”

Gilbert said if Sampras were a stock share traded on Wall Street, he would be a good investment.

“With as many bad stocks as I’ve bought in my life, if I had stock in him, I’d feel pretty good,” said Gilbert. “If he stays healthy, there’s nowhere for him to go but up.”

Sampras has won three of the last four meetings with Gilbert, tying their series at 3-3.

Mansdorf, on the pro tour since 1983, lost to Sampras, 6-4, 6-4, in the quarterfinals at Los Angeles last summer.

Six-time champion Stanford, ranked third in the country, will meet Texas Christian in the finals of the men’s USTAITCA National Indoor Tennis Championship at Louisville after beating second-ranked USC, 4-2.

TCU, No. 6 in the Volvo Tennis-Collegiate Rankings, routed No. 10 Notre Dame, 4-0.

Stanford’s Chris Cocotos pulled out a 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) victory over Andras Lanyi at No. 3 singles to seal the match for the Cardinal (7-0). USC, the reigning NCAA champion and 6-1 this season, played without No. 1 player Brian MacPhie, who was pulled from the lineup to rest a sore elbow.

Top-seeded Zina Garrison and third-seeded Lori McNeil will meet in the finals of the Virginia Slims of Oklahoma at Oklahoma City.

Garrison came back from a terrible second set to beat fourth-seeded Amy Frazier, 6-4, 0-6, 6-4, and McNeil gained her fourth appearance in the finals by defeating Manon Bollegraf of the Netherlands, 6-3, 7-5.

Stefan Edberg defeated Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia, 6-4, 6-4, and made the finals of the Eurocard Classic at Stuttgart, Germany, for the second year in a row.

Edberg will face Goran Ivanisevic, who beat Alexander Volkov of Russia, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.