TENNIS ROUNDUP : Gilbert Upset in Grass Tuneup

Qualifier Luis Herrera of Mexico upset second-seeded Brad Gilbert, 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), in the quarterfinals of a grass-court tournament Thursday at Manchester, England.

MaliVai Washington, at No. 5 the last remaining seeded player, advanced with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Simon Youl of Australia. He will play Herrera.

Jacco Eltingh of the Netherlands and Wally Masur of Australia also reached the semifinals.

Eltingh was leading, 6-2, 3-0, when his opponent, Arne Thoms of Germany, retired because of a pulled stomach muscle. Masur defeated Jeff Tarango of Manhattan Beach, 6-3, 6-4.

Gilbert seemed to be coasting to victory when he broke Herrera’s serve in the fourth game and went on to take the set five games later.

But the Mexican began to run down all the American’s shots, breaking serve at love to go ahead, 4-2, and serving out at love to win the second set.

Gilbert saved two match points in the third-set tiebreaker. But Herrera reached a third match point with a lob, and the match ended on the next point when Gilbert missed on a low volley.

Gilbert blamed his loss on his poor service returns--and his opponent’s size. Herrera is 5 foot 7.

“For some reason I’ve got a phobia about playing against guys 5-foot-7 and under,” Gilbert said. “I lose to all of them. He is tough to play because he’s small and he slices a lot, and the ball stays low.”

Mary Joe Fernandez led an all-American advance into the semifinals of a grass-court tournament at Eastbourne, England.

Fernandez, seeded second, defeated seventh-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 6-4, in their quarterfinal, and will face Lori McNeil in the semifinals.

No. 11 McNeil survived a match of 21 service breaks to edge sixth-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, 7-6 (7-2), 6-7 (7-4), 7-5.

Linda Harvey-Wild, who upset Martina Navratilova earlier, will play South African-born Californian Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer in the other semifinal.

Harvey-Wild, a 21-year-old from Hawthorn Woods, Ill., advanced by defeating Australian Rennae Stubbs, 6-1, 6-1, in 65 minutes. Fairbank-Nideffer upset fourth-seeded Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia, 6-1, 6-3.

The Wimbledon referee’s office said it is studying Yugoslav-born Monica Seles’ request to be listed from Sarasota, Fla., to avoid political controversy.

“It’s still under discussion,” a spokeswoman said. “No decision has been made.”

The listing would be in the daily Wimbledon programs and order of play. Wimbledon, which begins Monday, does not use national flags or anthems.