Defending champion Fabrice Santoro returns the ball in his victory over Vincent Spadea.

Providence Journal / John Freidah

NEWPORT — Pete Sampras dubbed Fabrice Santoro “The Magician” six years ago for his ability to make crafty shots. Well, the Frenchman delivered one of his craftiest in the second set of his 7-6 (4), 6-1 victory over Vincent Spadea yesterday in the semifinals of the Campbell’s Hall of Fame Tennis Championships at the Newport Casino.

Serving at 1-1, Santoro, with his back to the net, hit a shot through his legs. Many pros can do that, but a lob? That’s what Santoro hit, and it landed on the baseline for a winner, drawing a roar from the crowd of about 3,000.

“When you do a shot like that, you remember for many years,” the defending champion said after his third victory in as many days. “Between the legs is rare. A lob is even more rare.”

Santoro could recall only one other shot like that in his long career. It was against Thomas Muster of Austria in Montreal in 1997.

It figured that the lob against Spadea would land in because Santoro was on a roll yesterday. He served well (71 percent), volleyed well (match point was a winning volley) and covered the court well.

“The big difference today is I serve very good,” he said.

He didn’t serve so good in the fourth game of the opening set, when Spadea broke ahead for a 3-1 lead. But he broke right back and saved break points in the 8th and 12th games, forcing the tiebreaker.

“I was a bit lucky. I had a good first serve on the break points and played a good tiebreaker,” Santoro said.

That back-breaking lob and a strained right calf did in Spadea in the second set, when he lost his serve twice.

“I decided to play as hard as I could, but it was like a one-set match,” he said. “After the tiebreaker, my leg started to bother me. I had problems yesterday. If you’re not feeling unbelievable, or even if you are, he makes you work hard,” Spadea said. He added that he didn’t chase shots he normally would run down because of his leg.

“Some of those cat-and-mouse points, if you’re in great shape and fast, you can win,” Spadea said.

The victory was Santoro’s 450th singles triumph and put him in his first final of 2008. He can become the third back-to-back champion (Greg Rusedski 2004-05, Bryan Shelton 1991-92) and fourth multiple winner (Rusedski, Shelton, Vijay Amritraj 1980, 1984).

Santoro, the No. 2 seed, will return today to face unseeded wild-card entrant Prakash Amritraj of India for the championship. Amtitraj, son of 1980 and 1984 Hall of Fame champion Vijay Amritraj, upset seventh-seeded Frank Dancevic of Canada, 7-6 (4), 4-6, 6-3, in the other semifinal yesterday. Amritraj is ranked No. 305, Santoro No. 57.

Phil and Taylor Dent are the only other father and son to win tournaments on the ATP tour.

Chang welcomed to Hall

Hall of Famers Vic Seixas (1971), Rosie Casals (1996), Stan Smith (1987), Butch Buchholz (2005), Russ Adams (2007) and John McEnroe (1999) were on hand to welcome Michael Chang to their club. Hall of Fame journalist Bud Collins (1994) and his garment bag of rainbow-colored slacks was absent for the first time in years. The 79-year-old globetrotting scribe was not feeling well upon his return from Wimbledon and opted to stay home this weekend.

McEnroe, who spoke for 45 minutes at his induction, assured Hall of Fame president Tony Trabert that he would be much briefer in talking about Gene Scott. And he was, while remaining engaging and at times humorous. Chang’s acceptance speech, addressing God, family and tennis, was one of the most thoughtful in recent years.

Jane Brown Grimes, president of the U.S. Tennis Association, attended the induction ceremony. She is a former executive director of the Hall of Fame and is a member of the Hall’s executive committee.

Woolard gallery opens

The International Tennis Hall of Fame officially opened its new Woolard Family Enshrinement Gallery yesterday, the culmination of a nine-month effort sparked by a major gift from Peggy and Ed Woolard.

The new space is stunning, with a Brazilian cherry-wood floor, mahogany kiosks with an acrylic panel for each inductee and interactive touch-screen panels that feature career highlights, film clips and quotations. The vaulted ceiling is etched with silver and gold flames. Temporary displays honor the Class of 2008, Chang, Scott and the late Mark McCormack.

Classic matches today

The Hall of Fame Classic is set for 10 a.m. today. Tom Gullikson and Corina Morariu will play Stan Smith and Cristelle Fox. Michael Chang and Todd Martin will follow. Chang and Martin will conclude the exhibition with a doubles match against Richey Reneberg and Jonathan Stark. Each match will be one set.

Tickets are $35, and proceeds will benefit the Hall of Fame and the Tim and Tom Gullikson Foundation. A combination ticket that covers the exhibition and singles and doubles finals starting at 2 p.m. is $57.50.

mszostak@projo.com