TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sabatini Positioned for Fifth Italian Title

Gabriela Sabatini defeated top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, 6-1, 6-3, Saturday in the semifinals of the Italian Open at Rome, and will play Conchita Martinez of Spain for the title.

Martinez played steady tennis and defeated an error-prone Mary Joe Fernandez, 7-5, 6-4, in the other semifinal. The sixth-seeded Martinez reached the semifinals by upsetting second-seeded Martina Navratilova in the quarterfinals.

Sabatini, seeking to tie Chris Evert’s record of five Italian titles, started quickly by breaking service immediately and ended the match with a winning smash.

The serve seemed barely a weapon on the slow red clay courts. Sabatini broke Sanchez Vicario four times in the second set, and suffered three breaks herself.

But she kept the pressure up, hitting deep forehands and sliced backhands to the corners.

Sanchez Vicario had come into Rome with four tournament titles this year, the best record on the tour, but she had trouble keeping the ball within the lines against Sabatini and committed 35 unforced errors to her opponent’s 25.

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Michael Stich of Germany and Andrei Chesnokov of Russia won semifinal matches in the German Open at Hamburg.

Stich ended Emilio Sanchez’s run of upsets, outlasting the Spaniard, 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 7-6 (7-2).

Chesnokov spoiled an all-German final when he defeated Bernd Karbacher, 6-2, 6-4.

Stich overcame his own erratic play and finally converted his fifth match point against Sanchez, who ousted top-seeded Stefan Edberg and seventh-seeded Richard Krajicek en route to the semifinals. Stich, who also reached the final last year, is seeded sixth.

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Top-seeded UC Davis defeated third-seeded Cal Poly Pomona, 5-2, and second-seeded Cal Poly San Luis Obispo beat unseeded Abilene Christian, 5-4, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II women’s tennis tournament at Industry Hills.

UC Davis (22-3), which denied Cal Poly Pomona a third consecutive championship, will meet Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (22-8) for the title today at noon.