Gunnarson Upsets No. 2-Seeded Gomez in Italian Open

Unseeded Jan Gunnarson of Sweden upset defending champion and No. 2-seeded Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 6-2, 1-6, 6-3, in an opening-round match Monday in the $350,000 Italian Tennis Open.

The 22-year-old Swede, facing clouds of wind-whipped dust on the clay center court of Rome’s Foro Italico, mixed deep volleys and deft lobs to defeat a tired-looking Gomez.

After a light rain held up play for an hour, British veteran John Lloyd swept aside Peruvian Pablo Arraya, 6-4, 6-1.

In other first-round matches, Mark Dickson beat Martin Jaite of Argentina, 6-3, 6-2; Jimmy Brown downed Australian Trevor Allan, 4-6, 6-4, 6-2; Stefan Simonsson of Sweden ousted Peter Elter of West Germany, 6-3, 6-3; Argentine Alejandro Ganzabal eliminated Paolo Cane of Italy, 6-3, 6-2; and Boris Becker of West Germany defeated France’s Tarik Benhabiles, 6-3, 6-3.