TENNIS ROUNDUP : Becker Beats Edberg, Gains Final in Qatar

Third-seeded Boris Becker of Germany upset top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden, 6-4, 6-4, in a $450,000 tournament at Doha, Qatar, Saturday and reached his first outdoor final in more than a year.

Becker will play Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia today. Ivanisevic defeated Andrei Cherkasov of Russia, 6-2, 6-2.

Becker came back from a 2-4 deficit in the second set. Ivanisevic needed only 71 minutes to beat Cherkasov.

Conchita Martinez of Spain struggled against Michelle Jaggard-Lai of Australia, but won, 7-5, 6-3, in the semifinals of the Australian Hardcourt championship at Brisbane.

Martinez, seeded first, is ranked eighth in the world and Jaggard-Lai 158th, but Jaggard-Lai led, 5-3, in the first set and 2-0 in the second.

Martinez will face Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria in today’s final. Maleeva, seeded second, defeated Shi-Ting Wang of Taiwan, 6-4, 7-5.

Sweden’s Christian Bergstrom and Nicklas Kulti advanced to the final of the South Australian Open at Adelaide.

Kulti defeated Jonathan Stark, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4, and Bergstrom beat Australian Richard Fromberg, 6-4, 6-4.