Tennis Roundup : Mecir and Chesnokov Advance to Today’s Final

Second-seeded Miloslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia beat David Pate, 7-6, 5-7, 6-0, Friday and will face Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union today in the final of the $415,000 DuPont tennis tournament at Orlando, Fla.

Chesnokov rallied to defeat Jay Berger, 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, in the other semifinal.

“I think it’s very tiring playing him,” said Berger, who had upset top-seeded Mats Wilander in the second round. “But it affected me more mentally than physically. He’s definitely a great player.”

Mecir had to survive a set point at 8-7 in the tiebreaker against Pate.

No. 1-seeded Steffi Graf defeated Pascale Paradis of France, 6-1, 6-2, to reach the semifinals of a $300,000 Virginia Slims tournament at Boca Raton, Fla.

No. 2 Chris Evert, No. 3 Pam Shriver and No. 4 Gabriela Sabatini also advanced. Evert defeated No. 7 Sandra Cecchini of Italy, 6-1, 6-0; Shriver beat Gigi Fernandez of Puerto Rico, 1-6, 7-5, 7-5, and Sabatini ousted No. 11 Mary Joe Fernandez, 7-6, 6-3.