TENNIS ROUNDUP : Halard Needs a Tiebreaker but Beats Sabatini in Canada

Julie Halard had nothing to lose. That wasn’t the case for Gabriela Sabatini.

In the first major upset of the Canadian Open at Toronto, the unseeded Halard advanced to the quarterfinals on Thursday by beating the third-seeded Sabatini, 6-4, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3).

“Anyone who plays against me, I guess, has nothing to lose, so they take risks,” Sabatini said.

Said Halard, who had lost her four previous matches against Sabatini: “I knew I had a chance today. Those other times were easy matches for her. It’s one of my big wins.”

Sabatini said her loss was due to a combination of Halard’s improved game and her own lack of concentration.

Halard meets Jennifer Capriati in a quarterfinal match today. Capriati beat 11th-seeded Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6-0, 6-2.

Germany’s Anke Huber also went to a tiebreaker before advancing to the quarterfinals, putting away Lori McNeil, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-2). Huber will meet defending champion and second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, a 6-1, 6-1 winner over Helena Sukova.

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Defending two-time champion Pete Sampras rallied to defeat Jonathan Stark, 5-7, 7-6 (7-2), 6-3, in the third round of the U.S. Hardcourts at Indianapolis.

The victory allowed Sampras to keep alive his battle with Jim Courier for the world’s No. 1 ranking heading into the U.S. Open.

Courier, ranked No. 2 and seeded second for the tournament, defeated Tomas Carbonell of Spain, 6-2, 6-1 in a third-round match.

Qualifier Jimmy Arias lost five match points before defeating No. 4 Goran Ivanisevic, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Third-seeded Boris Becker defeated Andrei Cherkasov, 6-4, 7-5.