Tennis Roundup : Gilbert Downs Jarryd to Win Fifth Title

Third-seeded Brad Gilbert won his fifth singles title of the year before hometown fans by defeating unseeded Anders Jarryd of Sweden, 7-5, 6-2, in the $425,000 Volvo tennis tournament in San Francisco.

Gilbert, of Piedmont, Calif., used a powerful serve, a pinpoint forehand and change of pace to beat Jarryd for the second time in as many weeks. Gilbert eliminated him at a tournament in Los Angeles last week.

“My forehand was good but the key was that I played very aggressively in the big points,” Gilbert said. “I got into the net and took some chances.”

Jarryd was pleased with his week’s performance but remained puzzled on how to beat the world’s No. 6 player.

“I need to find the shot to beat him,” Jarryd said. “He’s so fast and he’s always coming up with good passing shots. There are only a couple of guys who can do that. He returns well, too.”

Ivan Lendl, a master on the clay courts of France, played so well that even he was satisfied.

But his 6-2, 6-2 victory over Emilio Sanchez of Spain, also reminded Lendl of his French Open frustration this year.

“I wish I played like this at Roland Garros, I would have won that tournament,” said Lendl, who lost in Paris to eventual French Open champion Michael Chang. “When you go out and hit the ball this well in a final, it’s a nice feeling.”

The top-seeded Lendl had no trouble in the $250,000 tournament at Bordeaux, France. He broke Sanchez twice in the first set, coming up with a big serve and powerful forehands to force the pace.

“Ivan played too good,” said Sanchez, seeded second. “He hit too hard the whole match. His forehand was too good in the first set so, I tried to play his backhand.”

That tactic failed and Lendl easily won the second set, finishing the match in 1 hour 35 minutes.

“I hit the ball today better than at Flushing Meadow,” Lendl said, referring to the U.S. Open, where he lost to Boris Becker in the final. “It should translate into something good.”

This victory, which gave him his eighth tournament title of the year, was worth $45,000 and improved his year’s earnings to more than $1.1 million, second only to Becker of West Germany.

Since losing in the fourth round to Chang at the French Open in June, Lendl has lost only three times, to Becker at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and last week to Ecuador’s Andres Gomez, in Lendl’s first match on clay courts since the French Open.

Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina needed a little less than two hours to defeat Paolo Cane of Italy, 6-1, 6-4, in the final of a $123,400 clay-court tournament at Palermo, Italy.

John Lloyd rallied from a 5-3 deficit in the third set to defeat Bob Lutz, 4-6, 6-1, 7-5, in the final of a $40,000 masters tournament in San Antonio.