TENNIS ROUNDUP : Pernfors Wins for First Time in Five Years

Mikael Pernfors of Sweden continued his comeback Sunday with a 2-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over Todd Martin to win the Canadian Open in Montreal.

Pernfors, ranked in the top 10 in 1986, struggled thereafter with Achilles’ tendon problems. The Canadian victory was his first since winning in Scottsdale, Ariz., in 1988.

Pernfors, 30, the lowest ranked player to reach the Canadian Open final at No. 95, earned $235,000--more than he had won since undergoing surgery on his injured foot in April of 1990.

Martin, 22, appeared to wilt in the 85-degree heat after overpowering Pernfors in the opening set.

A hard-hitting right-hander from Lansing, Mich., Martin also lost a final in Washington last week.

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Top-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain overcame a number of ailments to win the U.S. Women’s Hard Court Championships at Stratton Mountain, Vt., with a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Zina Garrison-Jackson.

Martinez, who won all her matches in straight sets, lost only 18 games in five matches. It was her fourth singles title of the year and 18th of her career.

“I wasn’t supposed to come here, but now I’m happy I came,” Martinez, a late addition to the first-year tournament, said.

Martinez, who started the tournament with a virus, had muscle spasms in her left shoulder that required attention in the second set. After a massage, Martinez won six of the last seven games to close out the match in less than an hour.

“The first day, I wouldn’t have thought I could win,” she said.

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Carlos Costa of Spain lost only six games against Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden to win the Dutch Open clay-court championship at Hilversum, the Netherlands.

Costa, ranked No. 42, won, 6-1, 6-2, 6-3, in an 85-minute match against No. 26 Gustafsson, who was suffering a recurrence of an arm injury. Neither finalist was seeded.