TENNIS ROUNDUP : Pioline Gets Another Shot Against Sampras in France
Pete Sampras and Frenchman Cedric Pioline set up a rematch of their U.S. Open final, and last year’s Lyon final, as they won three-set semifinal matches Saturday in France.
Sampras, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, came from behind to defeat Jakob Hlasek of Switzerland, 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6). The fifth-seeded Pioline gained his third consecutive final and fourth in five tournaments as he beat Richard Fromberg of Australia, 6-3, 6-7 (7-2), 6-4.
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At Beijing, top-seeded Michael Chang and Canadian Greg Rusedski won semifinal matches in the Salem Open. Chang defeated Tommy Ho, 6-2, 6-3. Rusedski used a booming serve and powerful ground strokes to oust Brad Gilbert, 6-3, 6-4.
“It’s kind of fitting, being here in Beijing,†Chang said.
At Hong Kong, Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands defeated Ivan Lendl, 6-3, 1-6, 6-0, and will play Stefan Edberg in the finals of the Marlboro Championships. The top-seeded Edberg defeated Todd Martin, 6-2, 7-6 (11-9). Lendl, who has slipped to 18th in the ATP rankings, said he suffered an injured calf muscle during an earlier match.
At Vienna, top-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria defeated Sweden’s Thomas Enqvist, 6-2, 6-4, and second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic of Croatia defeated No. 3 Petr Korda of the Czech Republic, 6-4, 6-2, to ease into the final of the Austrian Open indoor tournament. “I was simply the better player,†Muster said.
At Brighton, England, top-seeded Jana Novotna came back after losing the first set and beat Patty Fendick, 4-6, 6-0, 6-3, in one semifinal of a women’s indoor tournament. Second-seeded Anke Huber also came from behind to defeat third-seeded Mary Pierce, 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, in the other.
At Budapest, Hungary, Zina Garrison-Jackson enjoyed an easy advance to the finals of the $150,000 Budapest Open, defeating Julie Halard of France, 6-3, 6-2. The top-seeded American will play Sabine Appelmans of Belgium, who struggled past 101st-ranked Katarina Studenikova of Slovakia, 7-6 (7-3), 6-7 (7-0), 6-4.
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