Masters Doubles Championship : Mecir-Smid, Flach-Seguso Play for Title

LONDON â€”  Miloslav Mecir and Tomas Smid of Czechoslovakia rallied to defeat two-time defending champions Stefan Edberg and Anders Jarryd of Sweden, 3-6, 6-3, 2-6, 6-3, 6-4, Saturday night to reach the final of the $280,000 Masters Doubles tennis championship.

Mecir and Smid will play Wimbledon champions Ken Flach and Robert Seguso today for the $75,000 first prize. The Americans outlasted Spain’s Sergio Casal and Emilio Sanchez, 6-1, 6-2, 3-6, 5-7, 7-5.

Mecir and Smid swept past Edberg and Jarryd earlier in the tournament, but it looked as if the roles would be reversed Saturday before Edberg encountered trouble with his serve.

The Swedes opened with a flourish, breaking Smid in the first game of the match and again in the ninth game to wrap up the first set.

But the Czechs tied it, breaking Edberg’s serve in the fifth and final games of the second set.

After Edberg and Jarryd built a two sets-to-one lead, Edberg’s serve deserted him again. Mecir and Smid broke Edberg for a 2-0 lead and held from there to tie the match.

Edberg again lost his serve in the first game of the final set, and the Czechs built a 3-0 lead on Jarryd’s only service break of the match.

The Swedes broke Mecir for 3-1 and held for 3-2. But Smid held for a 4-2 lead, and the Czechs won the final game at love.

Flach and Seguso romped through the first two sets in less than an hour. But Flach lost his composure in the third set, and the Americans were broken twice.

The Spaniards broke Flach to lead 6-5 in the fourth set, and Casal held to even the match at two sets all.

The Spaniards then broke Flach again to lead 2-1 in the final set, but Flach and Seguso held the rest of the way, breaking Casal’s service twice.

Paul Annacone and Christo van Rensburg of South Africa took fifth place in the round-robin tournament with a 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 victory over Americans Peter Fleming and Gary Donnelly.