TENNIS ROUNDUP : Germany and Sweden Advance

Germany and Sweden, without the services of their No. 1 players, became the first teams to reach the Davis Cup semifinals Saturday.

Germany took an unbeatable 3-0 lead over the Czech Republic when Michael Stich completed a five-set singles victory over Karel Novacek, then teamed with Patrik Kuehnen to win the doubles.

Henrik Holm and Anders Jarryd gave Sweden a 3-0 lead over the Netherlands. They needed only 1 hour 46 minutes to defeat Paul Haarhuis and Mark Koevermans, 6-3, 6-1, 6-3, as the Dutch failed to capitalize on their custom-built clay court.

Germany won without Boris Becker, the world’s fourth-ranked player, who is not playing Davis Cup this year. Sweden is without third-ranked Stefan Edberg, who stayed home to attend the birth of his daughter last week.

Germany and Sweden will meet in the semifinals Sept. 24-26.

Elsewhere in quarterfinal action, France took a 2-1 lead over India, and Australia led, 2-1, at Italy.

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Top-seeded Ivan Lendl said his mind was on the U.S. Open, but he still managed to defeat unseeded Patrick Baur, 6-3, 6-4, to reach the final of the U.S. Pro Championships at Brookline, Mass.

Fourth-seeded Todd Martin defeated second-seed Mal Washington, 6-2, 6-4, in the other semifinal.

“Obviously, winning a major is very important for me,” said Lendl, who has won eight. “ . . . I didn’t play well tonight. It’s difficult to explain. I couldn’t get comfortable with my timing.”

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Top-seeded Anke Huber of Germany and local favorite Judith Wiesner advanced to the final of the Austrian Open clay-court tournament at Kitzbuehel.

Wiesner, seeded fifth, beat unseeded Emanuela Zardo of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-4. Huber led Germany’s Sabine Hack, 4-3, in the first set when Hack retired because of an injured hand.

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Germany’s Meike Babel beat Nicole Muns-Jagerman of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-3, to reach the final of the Prague Open. She will face unseeded Natalia Medvedeva of Ukraine, who defeated fourth-seeded Patricia Tarabini of Argentina, 6-7 (8-6), 6-4, 7-5.