Tennis Roundup : McEnroe, Jarryd in Milan Final
John McEnroe gave Switzerland’s Jakob Hlasek an hour tennis lesson Saturday night to move into the final of the $380,000 Fila Trophy indoor tennis tournament.
The world’s No. 1 player defeated his 19-year-old opponent, 6-3, 6-2, before a full house at the Lido Ports Palace in Milan, Italy, but he needed five match points before putting Hlasek away.
The top-seeded McEnroe now faces second-seeded Anders Jarryd of Sweden, who defeated Tomas Smid of Czechoslovakia, 6-3, 7-6. Jarryd won the tiebreaker, 7-0.
The winner’s check for $60,000 will be presented by now-retired five-time Wimbledon champion Bjorn Borg of Sweden, winner of the first edition of the Milan tournament in 1979.
Today will be the sixth meeting between McEnroe and Jarryd, with McEnroe leading 4-1.
At Fort Myers, Fla., defending champion Jimmy Connors battled to a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Andres Gomez and will face Ivan Lendl today in the final of the $325,000 Paine Webber tournament.
Lendl advanced with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Sammy Giammalva.
Gomez dominated Connors early in their 2 1/2-hour match, hitting forehand winners that stunned the crowd and left Connors shaking his head.
Gomez, however, after leading 2-0 in the second set, struggled in the third game. He missed an easy volley and then watched helplessly as Connors’ forehand slipped over the net for a 30-0 lead and an eventual service break.
Both players said that was the turning point.
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