TENNIS ROUNDUP : Mezzadri’s Consistent Play Pays Off

Claudio Mezzadri of Switzerland advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Men’s Clay Court Championships at Charlotte, N.C., with a 6-4, 6-4 upset Thursday of seventh-seeded Jacco Eltingh of Holland.

Mezzadri, last year’s runner-up, will play Saturday against Horacio de la Pena, who easily upset sixth-seeded Derrick Rostagno, 6-2, 6-3.

“He was being consistent, and I was going for the lines,” Rostagno said.

In today’s two other quarterfinals, Bryan Shelton will play third-seeded Jaime Yzaga and Mikael Pernfors will face second-seeded Todd Martin.

Mezzadri lost in the finals last year to MaliVai Washington. Washington, seeded No. 1 this year, was eliminated in the first round by unseeded David Witt.

Mezzadri attributed his victory over Eltingh to the fast clay surface at the Olde Providence Racquet Club and his superior baseline game.

“I was very consistent, and I concentrated well,” Mezzadri said. “I didn’t give up too many points.”

The pivotal game came when Mezzadri broke Eltingh in the ninth game of the second set to take a 5-4 lead. He then served out the match, winning it with a blistering forehand passing shot.

“I knew I had to step it up and I did,” Mezzadri said.

De la Pena, playing near mistake-free tennis, eliminated Rostagno in 74 minutes. After forcing five break points, de la Pena finally broke in the third game of the match, ripping a backhand down the line. Rostagno, who had been serving well to that point, slammed a ball into the air in disgust.

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Stefan Edberg moved into the quarterfinals of the Nice Open on Thursday, defeating former champion Andrei Chesnokov of Russia, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, at Nice, France.

Fourth-seeded Goran Ivanisevic was an upset victim, losing to Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina, 6-1, 6-3.

Ivanisevic left the court and went back to the hotel, passing up the mandatory press conference, for which the ATP said he was fined $1,000.

In another second-round upset, German qualifier Marc Goellner defeated sixth-seeded Arnaud Boetch of France, 6-2, 6-4.

Edberg plays Javier Sanchez, a finalist last year, in the quarterfinals today. Sanchez defeated South African Marcos Ondruska, 6-1, 6-4.

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Michael Chang won a pair of tiebreakers to get into the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open, Pete Sampras won a lot more easily and Brad Gilbert was upset.

Chang, seeded No. 3 and a crowd favorite, defeated Todd Woodbridge of Australia, 7-6 (7-2), 7-6 (7-0). Chang lost to the Australian in a second-round match in the Japan Open last week.

“I really didn’t do a whole lot different today,” Chang said.

Sampras, starting his first tournament as the world’s No. 1-ranked player, defeated David Prinosil of Germany, 6-3, 6-4.

Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark ousted Gilbert, 6-4, 6-4, and will play Chang today.

Sampras’ opponent in the quarterfinals will be fellow American David Wheaton, who defeated Alex O’Brien, 6-4, 6-3.

In the other quarterfinal matches today, top-seeded Jim Courier, the defending champion, will play Patrick McEnroe and Brett Steven of New Zealand will meet Amos Mansdorf of Israel.