TENNIS ROUNDUP : Rosset Is as Good as Gold Against Chang

Unseeded Marc Rosset, the Olympic gold medalist from Switzerland, powered his way past fifth-seeded Michael Chang, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, to win the Hamlet Cup tennis tournament Sunday at Commack, N.Y.

The 6-foot-7 Rosset, winner of seven of eight matches since undergoing a tonsillectomy in July, used nine aces and a strong forehand to keep Chang off balance.

“You can’t hit what you can’t see,” said Chang, who had reached the final by beating top-seeded Stefan Edberg on Saturday.

“Rosset has one of the biggest serves and forehands in the game. It’s frustrating when you don’t get many service-break opportunities and can get only one break in the match.”

Rosset, ranked 30th in the world, is the first unseeded player to win the Hamlet Cup since Jonas Svensson of Sweden in 1987. He had the seventh-ranked Chang on the run continually and forced numerous forehand errors.

“I always play well against him. I put pressure on him,” said Rosset, who was in only his second final of the year. He won at Marseille in February.

“I had a lot of confidence in my forehand. I think his best shot is his backhand, so I put pressure on his forehand and he made errors.”

*

Thomas Enqvist of Sweden used a strong all-around game to beat New Zealand’s Brett Steven, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-0), for the men’s championship at the OTB International at Schenectady, N.Y.

Larisa Neiland defeated Natalia Medvedeva, 6-3, 7-5, to win the women’s title.

Enqvist, 19, controlled the match after losing the first set. He won the second set easily, and dominated his service games in the third, but he failed to convert two break points, which set up the tiebreaker.

“It was unbelievable,” Enqvist said of winning all seven points in the tiebreaker. “I just went for my shots.”

Enqvist, 99th in the ATP rankings, kept the 46th-ranked Steven running across the baseline throughout much of the match, and repeatedly frustrated him with passing shots when Steven charged the net.

*

Austria’s Thomas Muster defeated Juan Berasategui of Spain, 7-5, 3-6, 6-3, to win the Croatian Open for the second time.

The 20-year-old Berasategui, ranked 61st in the world, battled Muster for two hours in the clay-court event at Umag, Croatia, before the Austrian prevailed. Muster then headed for New York, where he is scheduled to play Tuesday in the U.S. Open.