TENNIS ROUNDUP : McNeil Wins Eastbourne Title

Linda Harvey-Wild’s giant-killing run at the women’s grass-court tournament at Eastbourne, England, ended Saturday in the final, when fellow American Lori McNeil beat her, 6-4, 6-4.

Unseeded Harvey-Wild, 21, from Hawthorn Woods, Ill., romped through the tournament, knocking out defending champion Martina Navratilova in the first round.

But Harvey-Wild, ranked No. 64, was asked to play two matches in a day Saturday after her semifinal against Rosalyn Fairbank-Nideffer was rained out Friday night.

Although she won the semifinal, 6-1, 6-3, Harvey-Wild was obviously suffering in the final.

A fall in the third game didn’t help either--aggravating an injury to her heavily strapped left knee, damaged at Wimbledon 12 months ago.

For McNeil, 28, from Houston, the victory was the perfect lead-up for Wimbledon, starting Monday.

“It’s a great feeling,” she said. “It has given me a lot of confidence for next week, though I’ve now got to put Eastbourne behind me and treat Wimbledon as another tournament.

Jacco Eltingh won his first tournament title and spoiled MaliVai Washington’s 23rd birthday, all in the same match.

Eltingh, an unseeded player from the Netherlands, defeated the fifth-seeded American, 6-3, 6-3, in the final of the grass-court tournament at Manchester, England.

“I can’t complain,” said Eltingh, who did not drop a set in the tournament. “I just got in last Friday as the last or the second last in the main draw and I won the tournament. It’s unbelievable.”

Monica Seles will be listed as a Yugoslav at Wimbledon after all.

Wimbledon referee Alan Mills said Saturday the tournament had been told Seles changed her mind about a request to be listed from Sarasota, Fla., rather than her native Yugoslavia in order to avoid political controversy.

“We have now heard she wants to be listed as Yugoslavian, so that’s it,” Mills said. “We wait for the players to decide.

“She asked if possible to be listed from Florida, but that’s not a country so the request isn’t possible.”

A Croatian diplomat in London has warned of possible demonstrations if Seles plays as a Yugoslav.

Andrej Medvedev of Ukraine defeated Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay, 6-1, 7-6 (7-5), to advance to the finals at Genoa, Italy.

Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina also moved into the final when eighth-seeded Horst Skoff of Austria withdrew in the third set with the South American leading, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6), 4-0.