TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sampras Defeats Chang to Win Again at Tokyo

Top-seeded Pete Sampras won the Japan Open for the second consecutive year, defeating second-seeded Michael Chang, 6-4, 6-2, Sunday at Tokyo.

Sampras broke Chang’s serve once in the first set and twice in the second on the hard court, earning $156,000 for the victory.

Chang won $82,100.

Japan’s Kimiko Date overcame a slow start to defeat American Amy Frazier, 7-5, 6-0, and win her third consecutive women’s title.

Frazier, seeded fourth, took a 4-0 lead in the first set, but the top-seeded Date rallied to win seven of the next eight games.

Date won $27,000, Frazier $13,500.

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Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands defeated Carlos Costa of Spain, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2, to win the Conde de Godo tournament at Barcelona, Spain.

It was Krajicek’s first singles event since taking five months off to recover from tendinitis.

“I came here just to test my knees and my physical condition, but I was not expecting that much,” Krajicek said. “I should keep that attitude more often.”

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Arantxa Sanchez Vicario was a successful defender in the Bausch & Lomb Championships, defeating Gabriela Sabatini, 6-1, 6-4, at Amelia Island, Fla., to end a streak of 15 consecutive tournaments without a singles title.

“It’s always great when you finally win,” said the top-seeded player in the clay-court event. “I played my best, moved the ball well and dominated the match.”

The title was the first of the year for Sanchez Vicario, who won four tournaments in 1993, but had gone 0-5 in finals since last May--including losses to Steffi Graf in this year’s Australian Open and Virginia Slims of Florida.

Sanchez Vicario dedicated the victory to her father, Emilio, who had a heart attack in Spain five days earlier.

“He’s feeling much better, and I’m sure he’ll be proud of me,” she said. “He wanted me to stay and win. I did it for him.”