Tennis Roundup : Lendl, Nearly Flawless, Beats Pernfors in Semifinals, 6-0, 6-2

Top-ranked Ivan Lendl played almost perfect tennis while routing Mikael Pernfors of Sweden, 6-0, 6-2, Saturday in the semifinals of the $375,000 Seiko Super tournament at Tokyo.

Lendl, of Czechoslovakia, will meet Sweden’s Stefan Edberg, ranked second in the world, in today’s final.

Edberg struggled past Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia, 7-6, 4-6, 6-2, in the other semifinal.

Edberg said a victory over Lendl might help him attain the world’s No. 1 ranking.

“There is only one step, but it is a hard step to clear,” said Edberg, who has lost his three previous matches against Lendl.

Top-seeded Pam Shriver and No. 2-seeded Gabriela Sabatini easily won semifinal matches and will play for the title in the $200,000 Volvo tournament today at Brighton, England.

Shriver saved a set point in the second set before beating unseeded Kathy Jordan, 6-1, 7-5, while Sabatini, of Argentina, ousted third-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia, 6-1, 6-3.

Shriver made few mistakes in winning the first set in 30 minutes, breaking Jordan’s serve three times. In the second set, Jordan took a 5-2 lead and had set point at 5-4, but Shriver saved it with a forehand winner, then regained control.

Sabatini took only 59 minutes to beat Sukova. From 2-2 in the first set, Sabatini won seven straight games.