Thomas Muster and Andrei Chesnokov won third-set tiebreakers Saturday to advance to the finals of the Italian Open in Rome.
Muster, the 10th-seed from Austria, fought off three match points before beating No. 3 Andres Gomez of Ecuador 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (6-2).The eighth-seeded Chesnokov of the Soviet Union outlasted No. 4 Emilio Sanchez of Spain 6-7 (1-7), 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
The Chesnokov-Sanchez match, played at night because of rain delays during the day, lasted more than three hours and ended after 11 p.m.
After the two split the first two sets, Sanchez appeared to have the edge in the final set when he led 2-0 and had two break points. But Chesnokov erased both, held serve and then broke in the next game.
In the decisive tiebreak, Sanchez had leads of 4-3 and 5-4. But he made three straight errors, a forehand long, a missed forehand volley and a backhand passing shot as Chesnokov closed out the match.
"I had my chances to win the match and couldn't finish it," said the Spaniard, who also lost to Chesnokov in the semifinals in Monte Carlo. "I let him do too much on important points."
Chesnokov, who has won three, three-set matches in Rome and played five tiebreaks, said he expected an even tougher battle in Sunday's best-of-5 set final against Muster. It is a repeat of the Monte Carlo final, won by Chesnokov in straight sets.
"I don't know what I'm going to do tomorrow," he said.
At 3-2, Muster won four straight points to close out the match. Gomez made two backhand errors, Muster cracked a forehand passing shot and, on match point, he ran down a drop shot and put away an overhead.
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And at West Berlin, Steffi Graf eased into her 12th straight final when she defeated Soviet Natalia Zvereva 6-4, 6-2 today in the semifinals of the German Open and will play Monica Seles for the title Sunday.
Graf, who last lost at the French Open almost twelve months and 66 matches ago, found Zvereva a determined opponent but did not have to hit her best form to advance.
Seles beat Sandra Cecchini of Italy 6-1, 6-3, and has now won 23 straight matches.
Graf, playing in her native West Germany, is top-seeded and Seles, a Yugoslavian, is seeded second. They have played three times, with Graf winning all their matches.
In other quarterfinal matches, Seles overpowered sixth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain 6-0, 6-3, and Cecchini upset No. 10 Nathalie Tauziat of France 7-6, 6-3.
Graf's victory stretched her winning streak to 65, leaving her only nine short of the record held by Martina Navratilova since 1984. She can tie the record by winning this week and capturing the French Open, which begins May 28.
Seles, winner of her last four tournaments, extended her winning streak to 22, by downing Martinez in 50 minutes.