TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sanchez Vicario Turns Back Sabatini, Stays on Hot Streak

Top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, the hottest player on the women’s tennis tour with two victories and a pair of second-place finishes in her last four tournaments, won the Bausch & Lomb Championships at Amelia Island, Fla., Sunday, beating two-time defending champion Gabriela Sabatini, 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.

Sanchez Vicario outlasted Sabatini in 80-degree heat in the 2-hour 45-minute match on clay and earned $75,000.

Sabatini, a three-time winner at Amelia Island, made $30,000 for her first appearance in a final since October. She hasn’t won a tournament since beating Monica Seles in the Italian Open final last May.

Pete Sampras, the new No. 1 men’s singles player in the world, beat Brad Gilbert, 6-2, 6-2, 6-2, in an all-American final to win the Japan Open at Tokyo.

The second-seeded Sampras had become No. 1 Friday, replacing American Jim Courier, who was upset early in the tournament.

“Being No. 1 is a great achievement, but I think the most important thing is to win the big tournaments,” Sampras said. “My next goal is the French Open.”

Eighteen-year-old Andrei Medvedev of the Ukraine beat Sergi Bruguera of Spain, 6-7 (9-7), 6-3, 7-5, 6-4, in Barcelona to win the $875,000 Trofeo Conde de Godo tournament. It was the fifth title of Medvedev’s career, his second this year, and it was worth $126,000.

In the doubles final, sixth-seeded Shelby Cannon, a former Tennessee star, and Scott Melville, a former USC star, beat the veteran Spanish team of Emilio Sanchez and Sergio Casal, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1. The Spaniards were seeded fifth.