Tennis Roundup : Annacone Knocks Off Lendl and Reaches Final

Paul Annacone’s biggest problem today against John McEnroe will be coming down to earth.

Annacone, ranked 41st in the world, upset top-ranked Ivan Lendl, 6-3, 6-2, Saturday in the semifinals of the $500,000 AT&T; Challenge exhibition tennis tournament at Atlanta, one day after beating No. 2-ranked Stefan Edberg of Sweden.

“My biggest problem is that I haven’t been able to beat the big guys consistently, but it’s real nice now to beat No. 1 and No. 2 in a row,” said Annacone, who was invited to the tournament only because Joakim Nystrom of Sweden is injured.

McEnroe defeated Jimmy Connors, 6-4, 6-4, in Saturday’s other semifinal.

Annacone, of Bridgehampton, N.Y., won his only professional singles title in 1985 at Los Angeles.

“I just couldn’t hit any balls in,” Lendl said. “He served very well and I didn’t return well. I had shots, I just didn’t make them. He was guessing well; he was crowding the net, and what it all comes down to is 6-3, 6-2.”

After winning the first set on a single service break, Annacone dominated Lendl in the second set, breaking Lendl’s serve twice to run off five games in a row.

McEnroe trailed Connors, 4-2, in the second set of the other semifinal but won the final four games. McEnroe is under suspension and banned from playing sanctioned tournaments but can compete in exhibitions.

Third-seeded Brad Gilbert fended off 15-year-old crowd favorite Michael Chang, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinals of a $303,400 tournament at Scottsdale, Ariz.

In today’s final, Gilbert will play seventh-seeded Eliot Teltscher, a 7-6, 7-5 winner over fourth-seeded David Pate in the other semifinal.

Gilbert, 26, ranked 13th in the world, said his meeting with Chang “was the least enjoyable match I’ve ever played. If you lose, you lost to a 15-year-old. It definitely was not an easy match, and I didn’t play well.”

Chang, from Placentia, Calif., became the youngest player to reach the semifinals in a Grand Prix tournament by beating Jorge Lozano Friday.

The 10th-grader from Valencia High School endeared himself to the crowd in that match by playing in shoes borrowed from a spectator. Chang had worn out his only pair during practice, tournament officials said.

The unranked Chang has not decided if he will turn pro.

Top-ranked Steffi Graf routed Manuela Maleeva of Bulgaria, 6-1, 6-2, to win a $110,000 women’s tournament at Mainz, West Germany.

The 18-year-old West German needed only 45 minutes to clinch the victory over Maleeva, who is ranked ninth in the world.

Yannick Noah of France, seeded No. 1, ousted sixth-seeded Guy Forget, also of France, 6-1, 6-2, and advanced to the final of the $239,000 Swiss Indoor tournament at Basel, Switzerland.

Roland Agenor of Haiti also reached today’s final with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Andre Agassi.

Fifth-seeded Kelly Evernden of New Zealand outlasted John Frawley of Australia, 5-7, 6-3, 6-4, in 2 hours 40 minutes to reach today’s final in the $150,000 Queensland Open at Brisbane, Australia.

In the other semifinal, eighth-seeded Eric Jelen of West Germany needed only 56 minutes to score a 6-2, 6-3 victory over Marcel Freeman.