Fast court masters in semi-finals

Press, 8 June 1989, Page 56

Fast court masters in semi-finals

NZPA-Reuter Paris Boris Becker and Stefan Edberg, two masters of fast court tennis, set up a semifinal meeting on the slow clay of Roland Garros with quarter-final victories yesterday. Becker rounded off a day disrupted by showers on the centre court at the French Open championships by thrashing an unseeded American, Jay Berger, 6-3, 6-4, 6-1, in one hour 13 minutes. Edberg, who beat Becker in last year’s Wimbledon final on the grass surface they both prefer, was even quicker in finishing off the Monte Carlo and Italian Open champion, Alberto Mancini, of Argentina. The Swede took one hour and one minute to win, 6-1, 6-3, 7-6, and reach the French Open semi-finals for the first time.

In the women’s tournament, the defending champion, Steffi Graf — seemingly unstoppable and yet to drop more than four games in a match in Paris — lined up an eagerlyawaited semi-final clash with Yugoslav Monica Seles, the 15-year-old tipped as. her successor. American Mary-Joe Fernandez cancelled plans to dash home for her high school graduation ceremony today when she beat the No. 10 seed, Canadian Helen Kelesi, and reached a semi-final against Spaniard Arantxa Sanchez, the seventh seed. Becker and Edberg, seeded second and third, are both enjoying the best seasons of their careers) on clay. West German Becker, who came back from match point against him to beat-the Argentine clay specialist, Guillermo Perez-Roldan, in five sets in the fourth roundj has won his last nine matches

on the surface and has lost only twice in 17 matches this year. Edberg, who has reached the semi-finals or final in seven of the last 11 grand slam tournaments, has a 13-1 record on clay this year and has dropped only one set at Roland Garros, to Czechoslovak Marian Vajda in the first found. Becker, after going on to the court late ? because of rain delays and then sitting out a -brief interruption when a shower broke 13 'minutes into the match, was a man in a hurry. The world No. 2 wrapped up the final set-in just 24 minutes, breaking Berger to love in the closing game when the American put a backhand out on matchpoint. Becker, the Wimbledon champion in 1985 and 1986, said he would never have imagined, coming to Paris, that he would meet Edberg in the semi-finals.