TENNIS ROUNDUP : Qualifier Mancini Reaches Italian Open Final

Alberto Mancini of Argentina, who won the Italian Open in 1989 but had to qualify for this year’s tournament, advanced to the final with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over fifth-seeded Sergi Bruguera of Spain Saturday at Rome.

Mancini’s opponent in the final of the $1.2-million tournament will be ninth-seeded Emilio Sanchez of Spain, who defeated Goran Prpic of Yugoslavia, 6-4, 6-2.

It’s the first time a player coming out of a qualifying round has reached the final.

Sanchez, who has not lost a set in the tournament, reached his second Italian Open final. He lost to Ivan Lendl in 1986.

Jennifer Capriati defeated Julie Halard of France, 6-3, 6-2, to move into the semifinals of a $500,000 tournament at Berlin.

Capriati, seeded seventh, will face fifth-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, who defeated 16-year-old Anke Huber of Germany, 6-0, 6-2.

Capriati became the last American player in the tournament when former Pepperdine star Ginger Helgeson was defeated by Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia, 6-1, 6-2. Top-seeded Steffi Graf defeated Czechoslovakia’s Radka Zrubakova, 6-3, 6-2.

Top-ranked USC defeated Notre Dame, 6-0, to advance to the quarterfinals of the NCAA men’s team tournament at Athens, Ga.

In the featured singles match, 14th-ranked Brian MacPhie defeated fourth-ranked David DiLucia, 6-3, 6-4. USC will face Florida, a 5-2 winner over Tennessee.

In other matches, second-ranked UCLA defeated Mississippi State, 5-1, and California beat Pepperdine, 5-4.