Becker Top-Seeded for Milan’s Indoor Tournament

West Germany’s Boris Becker will be the top-seeded player in the $345,000 Fila Trophy indoor tennis tournament scheduled at the Palatrussardi sports palace March 30-April 5, organizers have announced.

The list of entries, with 16 players ranking among the top 40 in the world, does not include American John McEnroe or his Czechoslovak rival Ivan Lendl, winners of the two previous editions of the Milan competition.

Cino Marchese, head of the organizing committee, said both Lendl and McEnroe will be playing in a tournament in Chicago the same week as the Fila Trophy.

The 19-year-old Becker, a two-time Wimbledon champion, will be making his second appearance in the Milan tournament. He was eliminated by McEnroe in his debut in Milan in 1985.

Becker won the Pilot Pen tournament at Indian Wells last Sunday, beating Stefan Edberg of Sweden in the final.

Other seeded entries in the 32-player field in Milan are Henri Leconte of France, Joakim Nystrom, Jonas Svensson and Anders Jarryd of Sweden, Pat Cash of Australia and Miroslav Mecir of Czechoslovakia.

Jarryd and Nystrom were finalists in the Fila Trophy in 1985 and 1986, respectively.

There are no American entries this year.

Marchese said four players will emerge from qualifications while four others will be offered a wild-card entry.

Marchese also announced that the Fila Trophy will have a total purse of $500,000 beginning in 1988, when it will be held in Milan in February.

Palatrussardi can hold 8,000 fans.