TENNIS ROUNDUP : Gilbert and Mansdorf Take Foes to School

Brad Gilbert and Amos Mansdorf defeated recent college graduates David DiLucia and Bill Barber on Wednesday to advance to the third round of the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships at Brookline, Mass.

Gilbert, seeded sixth, scored a 6-2, 6-4 victory over DiLucia, who attended Notre Dame. Mansdorf, seeded fifth, won, 6-1, 6-4, over Barber, who recently finished graduate studies at UCLA.

Both seeded players were weary after very short turnarounds from their opening matches Tuesday night.

“I was very tired and I am very upset about the schedule. I just don’t understand this schedule,” Israel’s Mansdorf said.

Yet Barber had a tougher time, describing his game as “out of control” and adding, “It was like I was on a train ride from hell.”

Mansdorf, ranked 29th, won the last five games of the first set, then broke Barber’s serve to go ahead, 2-1, in the second. Barber broke back in the next game. With Mansdorf ahead, 5-4, he again broke Barber’s serve to win the match.

“After he broke back, I just had to be patient and wait him out,” Mansdorf said. “I really didn’t know him before the match.”

Gilbert’s experience and DiLucia’s unforced errors were keys to the other match.

Gilbert said he was able to win in straight sets because DiLucia “missed a lot of first serves” and his “dinosaur” style kept DiLucia off balance.

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Austrian Barbara Schett, 17, overpowered third-seeded Katerina Maleeva, 4-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), in the Austrian Open at Kitzbuehel.

Schett stuck mainly to the baseline and took advantage of repeated mistakes by Maleeva, who apparently was suffering from back problems.

Also knocked out in the first round of the clay-court tournament was seventh-seeded Sandra Cecchini of Italy, who lost to the Pavlina Rajzlova of the Czech Republic, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Second-seeded Mary Pierce, who plays out of France and lives in Florida, had no trouble with her first-round opponent, Adriana Barna of Germany, winning, 6-0, 6-1.

Fourth-seeded Sabine Hack of Germany defeated fellow German Silke Meier, 6-3, 6-0.

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Lea Ghirardi of France upset third-seeded Czech Katerina Kroupova in the Prague Open, 6-0, 6-3.

Second-seeded Linda Ferrando defeated fellow Italian Christina Salvi, 7-6 (7-3), 6-1.

Jana Pospisilova of the Czech Republic defeated countrywoman Radka Bobkova, 6-2, 6-7 (8-10), 3-6.

Nicole Muns-Jagerman of the Netherlands ousted Czech Petra Kucova, 7-5, 6-0, and Sweden’s Assa Carlsson beat Kristin Godridge of Australia, 5-7, 6-4, 6-4.