Monica Seles and her ailing shoulder withstood the strain of back-to-back victories Friday, setting up an all-American final with Mary Joe Fernandez at the Eastbourne grass-court tournament.
With the quarterfinals and semifinals played Friday after Thursday's matches were rained out, the top-seeded Seles first beat qualifier Ines Gorrochategui 6-3, 6-1 in 61 minutes.Then Seles needed just over an hour to down defending champion Nathalie Tauziat 6-4, 6-4 in the major Wimbledon tuneup.
"It was definitely good to have two matches, and not having to wait too long between matches,"' said Seles, who is playing her first grass tournament since her loss to Steffi Graf in the 1992 Wimbledon final. "We've all been very eager after waiting around yesterday. I felt pretty good about my shoulder and I only felt it once or twice, but I've been trying to block out thinking about it."
Fernandez had a much longer day than Seles, needing three sets to clinch both matches. She defeated second-seeded Conchita Martinez 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the quarterfinals, and third-seeded Jana Novotna 6-1, 2-6, 8-6 in the semis.
Weber Open
HALLE, Germany - Richey Reneberg knocked Jim Courier out of the Gerry Weber Open, beating his fellow American 6-7 (3-7), 6-4, 6-2 in the quarterfinals Friday.
Reneberg, a U.S. Davis Cup specialist, took control of the match against the third-seeded Courier with a break at 3-3 in the second set.
French Open champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov also advanced to the semis, fightin off five match points and winning a two-hour thriller against Sweden's Magnus Larsson 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (13-11).
In Saturday's semifinal, Kafelnikov will face Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic, a 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 winner over Sweden's Magnus Gustafsson.
Reneberg plays Sweden's Nicklas Kulti, who beat New Zealand's Brett Steven 7-6 (7-2), 6-3.
Wilkinson Lady
ROSMALEN, Netherlands - Helena Sukova defeated fifth-seeded Judith Wiesner of Austria 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 Friday in the semifinals of the Wilkinson Lady tennis championships.
Also moving into the final was second-seeded Anke Huber of Germany who beat Romania's Ruxandra Dragomir 6-7 (1-7), 6-1, 6-4 in the day's other semifinal.
Nottingham Open
NOTTINGHAM, England - Jan Siemerink and Sandon Stolle reached the final of the Nottingham Open grass-court tournament with straight-set victories Friday.
Siemerink, the No. 5 seed from the Netherlands, beat Britain's Greg Rusedski 7-6 (7-4), 6-3.
Stolle won 6-2, 6-4 in an all-Australian match against Todd Woodbridge, the No. 6 seed.