Australian Open Tennis Championships : Edberg’s String Runs Out as Wilander Gains Final in Five-Set Win

Mats Wilander outlasted defending champion Stefan Edberg, 6-0, 6-7, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, today to move into the men’s final of the Australian Open tennis championships.

The defeat broke Edberg’s 17-match winning string in the tournament. He was attempting to become the first man in 20 years to win three successive Australian singles titles.

Wilander, the champion in 1983 and 1984, will face the winner of Friday’s second semifinal between top-seeded Ivan Lendl and Wimbledon champion Pat Cash.

The women’s title match, scheduled for Saturday, will pit top-seeded Steffi Graf against two-time champion Chris Evert.

The second-seeded Edberg had trouble with his first serve and his volley for much of the 3-hour 19-minute battle. He played from the baseline more than usual but was unable to match the accuracy of his fellow Swede.

Wilander, 23 and seeded third, lost to Lendl in the title match at both the French and U.S. opens last year.

Wilander moved into the final round virtually unnoticed. The sets he dropped Friday against Edberg were the first he has given up in the tournament.

He romped through the first set in 23 minutes, with Edberg able to win only 10 points.

The second set was an up-and-down affair with Edberg leading, 4-2, before Wilander won three straight games and was serving for the set at 5-4, only to be broken.

While Wilander was brilliant early in the match, Edberg’s game was riddled with errors. That changed in the second set, but Wilander re-established his superiority in the third, only to drop the fourth. Wilander then got an early break in the final set, and Edberg was unable to break back.

The match was the first between the two to go to five sets.

“It was mostly psychological out there,” Wilander said. “I feel I’m psychologically stronger than Stefan.”