Tennis Roundup : Muster Turns Up Heat, Wins Title

Eighth-seeded Tom Muster ignored rival Lawson Duncan’s victory prediction and went on to a straight set victory Sunday in the final of the U.S. Pro Tennis Championships at Brookline, Mass.

The 20-year-old Muster, a native of Austria, won the $50,575 first prize with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at the Longwood Cricket Club. The 55-minute match was played before 7,000 people in intense heat with on-court temperatures well over 100 degrees.

After defeating Horacio de la Pena in the semifinals Saturday night, Duncan said he would beat Muster in the final, despite an earlier 6-0, 6-0 loss at Forest Hills, N.Y., in the only other meeting between the two.

Muster took charge of the first set with a fourth-game service break and ended the set with another break in the eighth game.

In the second, he again used a fourth-game break to take control.

Muster, whose only other tournament victory was in the Netherlands in 1986, more than doubled his prize earnings for the year with the win.

He said he relied on his regular game and that “Duncan did not play his best match and didn’t play to my weak points.”

Duncan, who had said the night before “this is my tournament,” refused to back down after losing to Muster.

“If I played him again tomorrow I’d probably predict it again,” Duncan said. “I always go for a win. I’m always confident when I go out there.”

Steffi Graf won the women’s singles title and Tim Mayotte captured the men’s championship in the Gunze World tournament at Osaka, Japan.

Graf, top-ranked in the world, beat Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-0, 6-0, in a match that took only 44 minutes. “I didn’t expect to win so easily,” said Graf, who added that Maleeva “wasn’t good today.”

Mayotte, using seven aces, defeated top-seeded Jimmy Connors, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, in 2 hours 37 minutes.

Connors appeared headed for victory with 2-0 lead in the final set. But Mayotte, relying on a strong serve, won the next five games.

Fourth-seeded Wally Masur, who eliminated John McEnroe from the Wimbledon championships, routed fellow Australian Brad Drewett, 6-2, 6-1, in the final of the Volvo Tennis Hall of Fame Championships at Newport, R.I.

Masur, ranked No. 55 in the world, broke Drewett’s serve in the first game of the match, setting the tone. “That really doesn’t help in the final or in any match, especially on grass,” said Drewett, who is ranked 172nd.

Masur lost only seven points on his serve.

Masur and Drewett live about five minutes from each other near Sydney and frequently practice together when they are home.

“It’s always personal when you know somebody so well,” Masur said. “I find it harder. It’s an added element.”

Serving and volleying well, unseeded Darren Cahill of Australia won the Swiss Open final by defeating No. 7 Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6, in a 1-hour 50-minute match at Gstaad, Switzerland.

Hlasek had only three break points all match, converting the last one to even the third set, 6-6. In the tiebreaker, he fell behind, 3-0, and eventually lost, 7-2, when he double-faulted to end the match.

“It wasn’t as easy as it might have appeared,” Cahill said. “I had many problems, particularly early in the second set when Jakob had break points. But then I made a couple of good points.”

Isabel Cueto of West Germany defeated a weary Sandra Cecchini, 7-5, 6-1, to win the singles title in the Virginia Slims tournament at Bastad, Sweden.

Cecchini, the top-seeded defending champion from Italy, played 11 sets--7 in singles and 4 in doubles--in the last two days. She appeared tired after losing the first set to the fifth-seeded Cueto.