Tennis Roundup : Wilander Is Beaten by Jelen in First Round at London

Mats Wilander, the world’s third-ranked player, was upset by West Germany’s Eric Jelen, 6-3, 6-7, 6-4, Wednesday in the first round of the $300,000 Stella Artois championships at the Queen’s Club in London.

Jelen then beat countryman Patrick Kuhnen, 7-5, 6-4, to reach the third round, along with top-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany, No. 2 Stefan Edberg of Sweden, No. 5 Jimmy Connors and No. 6 Tim Mayotte, the defending champion.

Wilander, a finalist last Sunday in the French Open, became the third seeded player to be eliminated in the pre-Wimbledon grass-court event. Tuesday, the losers included No. 4 Yannick Noah and No. 12 Slobodan Zivojinovic.

Becker ripped Peter Fleming, 6-4, 6-2; Edberg ousted New Zealander Kelly Evernden, 7-6, 6-4, and Mayotte defeated Australian Paul McNamee, 6-2, 7-5.

Connors easily defeated South African Danie Visser, 6-3, 6-4, in a first-round match but had a tough time in the second round, beating Britain’s Stephen Shaw, 6-4, 6-7, 7-5.

Wilander, seeded No. 3, struggled all the way in his rain-interrupted match against Jelen.

When play ended Tuesday, he was behind, 2-0, in the third set.

Top-seeded Pam Shriver beat Elna Reinach of South Africa, 6-4, 6-2, in a second-round match at Birmingham, England, but three seeded players lost.

No. 4-seeded Catarina Lindqvist of Sweden lost to Anne White, 6-3, 6-4; Bettina Bunge was beaten by Svetlana Parkhomenko of the Soviet Union, 1-6, 7-5, 6-2, and Jo Durie of Britain lost to Akito Tijimuta of Japan, 4-6, 7-5, 7-5.

John McEnroe withdrew from this week’s tournament at Edinburgh, Scotland, citing leg injuries. “Physically I am not yet right. . . . My legs are still giving me a lot of trouble,” McEnroe told the London-based Times.