Tennis Roundup : Lendl and Becker Struggle, but Both Win First-Round Matches

Ivan Lendl and Boris Becker, the top seeded players, overcame their errors Wednesday in the opening round of a $375,000 men’s Grand Prix tournament at London.

Lendl, the No. 1 player in the world, took a set and a half to find his rhythm before beating Larry Stefanki, 3-6, 6-2, 6-0.

Becker, seeded second, started strong in his match with Shlomo Glickstein of Israel but struggled to a 6-2, 7-5 victory.

“I made the points and I made the mistakes,” Becker said. “I just had probably too quick a start. Hopefully, the fans will see me as a better player in the next round.”

Becker is playing his first tournament in Great Britain since winning the Wimbledon championship.

In second-round matches, third-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden defeated Thierry Tulasne of France, 6-2, 7-5; fifth-seeded Anders Jarryd of Sweden beat Heinz Guenthardt of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-3; eighth-seeded Joakim Nystrom of Sweden ousted Guy Forget of France, 6-4, 6-3; Rick Leach eliminated Jan Gunnarsson of Sweden, 7-5, 6-3; Ramesh Krishnan of India downed John Sadri, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4, and sixth-seeded Johan Kriek trounced Libor Pimek of Czechoslovakia, 6-4, 6-2.

Britain’s Sara Gomer surprised 13th-seeded Pascale Paradis of France, 7-6, 6-4, in a $150,000 women’s tournament at Brisbane, Australia.

In other second-round matches, Anne Minter of Australia beat Britain’s Jo Durie, 6-3, 7-5; West Germany’s Claudia Kohde-Kilsch defeated Andrea Holikova of Czechoslovakia, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, and France’s Sophie Amiach upset Liz Smylie of Australia, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.