TENNIS ROUNDUP : Chang Gives Edberg a Lot to Think About

Fifth-seeded Michael Chang beat top-seeded Stefan Edberg, and unseeded Marc Rosset defeated seventh-seeded Goran Ivanisevic on Saturday in the semifinals of the Hamlet Cup at Commack, N.Y.

Chang’s 6-1, 6-2 victory was his second in a row over Edberg, the defending champion in this week’s U.S. Open.

Rosset, ranked 30th in the world and the Olympic gold medalist, defeated Ivanisevic, 6-3, 6-3, in only 59 minutes.

Playing in 100-degree temperatures and gusty winds, Edberg never reached break point against Chang’s service.

Chang beat Edberg in the ATP final at Cincinnati earlier this month.

“I was very surprised the way things went,” Chang said. “Everything seemed to go my way.”

Edberg leads their head-to-head series, 11-5, but the one-sided result left some doubts for Edberg as he starts defense of his Open title.

“Michael had a good day and I didn’t,” Edberg said. “Physically I had recovered from (Friday) when I got dehydrated and was dying out there.

“But again, I had to come back from that, and I didn’t serve my best. The little wind was tough at times for me. I’ll put this behind me and I’ll be ready Monday when the Open begins. This has happened before.”

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Unseeded New Zealander Brett Steven, the world’s 46th-ranked player, upset second-seeded Karel Novacek of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 6-1, in the semifinals of the OTB International Open at Schenectady, N.Y.

In the other semifinal, 19-year-old Thomas Enqvist of Sweden upset sixth-seeded Carlos Costa of Spain, 6-1, 6-4.

In women’s semifinals, unseeded Larisa Neiland of Latvia surprised top-seeded Nathalie Tauziat of France, 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (13-11).

Neiland will play Natalia Medvedeva of Ukraine today in the final. Medvedeva beat Germany’s Meike Babel, 6-2, 6-3.

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Top-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria beat Juan Gisbert of Spain, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to the semifinals of the Croatian Open at Umag, Croatia.

Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden defeated Gabriel Markus of Argentina, 6-2, 6-4, and Renzo Furlan of Italy beat Guillermo Perez Roldan of Argentina, 4-6, 6-0, 7-6 (7-3).

Third-seeded Horst Skoff of Austria forfeited his match to Alberto Berasategui of Spain because of stomach problems.