TENNIS ROUNDUP : Gilbert Next Up for No. 1 Sampras

Pete Sampras celebrated his climb to the top of the ATP rankings with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Australian Wally Masur on Saturday in the semifinals of the Japan Open at Tokyo.

In the other semifinal, seventh-seeded Brad Gilbert beat fifth-seeded Henrik Holm of Sweden, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3. Sampras and Gilbert will meet for the title today.

Sampras, the No. 2-seeded player in this tournament who replaced Jim Courier as the world’s No. 1-ranked player Friday, called his victory over Masur his best match of the week.

“I returned very well and served well. I hit ground strokes clean. I won big points,” Sampras said.

Top-seeded Kimiko Date successfully defended her women’s singles title by beating eighth-seeded Stephanie Rottier of the Netherlands, 6-1, 6-3, on the hard court of Ariake Coliseum.

Gabriela Sabatini advanced to the final of the Bausch & Lomb Championships for the fifth time in six years with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Amanda Coetzer.

Since losing to Chris Evert in the quarterfinals as a 14-year-old in 1985, Sabatini has won the clay-court tournament three times and finished no worse than in the top four in five other appearances.

“It must be something about here,” said Sabatini, who beat Steffi Graf in the Amelia Island, Fla., final in 1989, 1991 and 1992.

Sabatini, chasing her first tournament title in 11 months, will face top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario in today’s final. Sanchez Vicario advanced with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere.

Sabatini has won 11 of 17 matches against Sanchez Vicario, but Sabatini has lost the last three.

Sergi Bruguera of Spain and 18-year-old Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine won semifinal-round matches in the Conde de Godo clay court tournament at Barcelona and will meet for the title today.

Bruguera defeated Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden, 6-0, 4-6, 6-4, and Medvedev ousted Thomas Muster of Austria, 6-4, 6-3.