Tennis Roundup : Mancini Routs Wilander, Will Face Becker in Final

Alberto Mancini of Argentina trounced top-seeded Mats Wilander of Sweden, 6-0, 6-3, Saturday to reach the final of the $607,500 Monte Carlo Open.

Boris Becker of West Germany also reached the final with a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Hans Skoff of Austria.

It will be the first final on clay for Becker in a professional Grand Prix tournament, although he won a junior event at the Monte Carlo County Club in 1984.

“A week ago I would have been happy to win the first round,� Becker said. “But then I beat some good clay court players this week and beat them quite easily. This shows me and the clay court players in the future that you can count a little bit more on Boris Becker.�

Mancini, 19, who beat Wilander last month in Key Biscayne, Fla., had no trouble with Wilander, taking the first eight games. Mancini won the first set in 23 minutes.

“I played very good today, but I don’t think Mats played well today,� said Mancini, ranked 31st in the world and seeded 14th in the tournament. “I had a lot of confidence after the win in the United States. I thought I had a good chance to beat him again.�

Top-seeded Chris Evert, three-time defending champion, downed Susan Sloane, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, to reach today’s final of a Virginia Slims tournament at Houston.

Evert’s opponent will be Monica Seles, of Bradenton, Fla., who easily defeated Carrie Cunningham 6-0, 6-1.

Sloane took a 5-2 lead in the first set by breaking Evert’s serve in the first and seventh games, and was at 5-5 in the tiebreaker before a forehand error and a backhand error cost her the set.

Top-seeded Ramesh Krishnan of India beat Jeremy Bates of Britain, 6-1, 6-3, and Johnathan Canter defeated fourth-seeded Andrew Castle of Britain, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4, to advance to the final of the Dunlop Masters tournament at Toyota, Japan.