TENNIS ROUNDUP : Lendl Beats Sampras at U.S. Indoor

Ivan Lendl defeated Pete Sampras, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, Saturday in the semifinals of the U.S. Indoor at Philadelphia and will face Mark Woodforde of Australia in today’s final.

The fourth-seeded Lendl, ranked ninth in the world, hit a cross-court shot past Sampras to beat him for the first time in two years.

Woodforde earlier defeated wild-card Derrick Rostagno, 7-5, 7-5.

Sampras had beaten Lendl twice since the 1991 final here, when Lendl won in five sets. Woodforde is 1-4 against Lendl with the only victory at Antwerp, Belgium, last year in their latest meeting.

“I think Lendl would like to have some revenge against me,” Woodforde said.

Said Lendl: “That is a fair statement.”

Sampras, seeded No. 2 and ranked No. 2, played despite a sore ankle and disputed a few line calls, but said Lendl’s serve was the deciding factor.

Sampras had seven aces, Lendl 11. Sampras had three double-faults, Lendl one.

Woodforde is the first unseeded player in a Philadelphia final since his countryman John Fitzgerald in 1988.

Woodforde reached the fifth match point on a shot that Rostagno thought was out by several inches and protested bitterly.

Rostagno, who upset top-seeded Jim Courier and eighth-seeded Amos Mansdorf earlier, refused to shake the umpire’s hand as he left the court, bringing catcalls from a crowd that had often backed him during the 1-hour 47-minute match.

Richard Krajicek earned a berth in the final of the Eurocard Open at Stuttgart, Germany, when top-seeded Boris Becker pulled out because of a virus infection. Krajicek will meet Michael Stich for the title.

Stich beat Wally Masur of Australia, 6-7, 6-2, 6-2, in the only semifinal of the $2.25-million event, the richest on the ATP Tour apart from its season-ending world championship.

No. 1-seeded Monica Seles and No. 2 Martina Navratilova gained the final of the Paris Women’s Open, Navratilova beating Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic, 6-1, 6-2, before Seles downed Conchita Martinez of Spain, 6-1, 6-1.

It will be the second consecutive week that Navratilova will meet Seles. Last week, Seles beat Navratilova in three sets at Chicago.