Tennis Roundup : Becker’s Three-Year Domination Ends

Magnus Gustafsson of Sweden upset top-seeded Boris Becker of West Germany, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, Thursday in the third round of the $150,000 Young Masters tennis tournament at Friedrichshafen, West Germany.

The defeat eliminated the 20-year-old Becker, a two-time Wimbledon champion who lately has been suffering from the effects of a lingering cold and a knee injury. Becker, ranked fifth in the world, has won the last three Young Masters tournaments.

Becker made a promising start against Gustafsson, winning the first set, 6-2. But, as the match wore on, he seemed to become more and more tired and had several faults called against him.

Gustafsson, ranked 51st in the world, rallied to win the last two sets.

Becker blamed his loss on his ailments.

He said after the match: “At the moment I’m taking medicine for throat and ear pain, for sniffles and for my knee injury.”

In another match Thursday, Alex Antonitsch of Austria defeated Christian Bergstrom of Sweden, 3-6, 7-6, 6-4.

Brad Gilbert clinched the eighth and final qualifying berth for the $500,000 Masters Championships at Madison Square Garden Dec. 2-7, even in defeat.

Gilbert, ranked 13th in the world, and Ecuador’s Andres Gomez, ranked ninth, both lost in the quarterfinals of the $516,000 Sul American Open at Rio de Janeiro. Gilbert was beaten by 17-year-old Andre Agassi, 6-1, 6-3, and Gomez lost to Czechoslovakia’s Tomas Smid, 7-6, 7-6.

Gilbert finished eighth with 1,941 points, and Gomez placed 10th with 1,792. Tim Mayotte wound up ninth with 1,815 points. The top eight players in the Nabisco Grand Prix point standings qualify for the Masters.