Tennis Roundup : Edberg Shows No Sign of Injury, Gains Easy Win

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden opened defense of his $617,500 Japan Indoor tennis title Wednesday with a 6-2, 6-2 victory over Todd Nelson at Tokyo.

In other matches, sixth-seeded John Fitzgerald of Australia defeated Ken Flach, 6-4, 6-0; Richard Matuszewski upset fifth-seeded Jay Berger, 7-6, 6-3, and seventh-seeded Slobodan Zivojinovic of Yugoslavia downed Toshihisa Tsuchihashi of Japan, 7-5, 6-3.

Edberg moved well and looked relaxed, showing no signs of the tendinitis he has suffered in his left knee for the past 2 weeks.

“I don’t think it was an easy match, but I thought I played well,” said Edberg, who won the Wimbledon championship in June. “I got off to an early service break and it was OK from there. His game fits me very well.

“I haven’t played that well since Wimbledon, but now I feel I am starting to move better and time the ball better.”

Edberg broke serve for 3-1 leads in both sets before closing out the match in 63 minutes.

“I hit the ball well and moved well,” Edberg said. “Nelson is not an easy opponent.”

Despite the withdrawals of Ivan Lendl, the world’s second-ranked player, and ninth-ranked Pat Cash because of injuries, Edberg said the tournament would still offer stiff competition.

“Only two players among the world’s top 10 are here, but there still are some good players in this tournament,” the third-ranked Swede said.

Boris Becker of West Germany, ranked fifth in the world, is seeded No. 2.

Fitzgerald played well after poor performances recently on the Australian indoor circuit. He had Flach on the defensive from early in the match, hitting deep serves and accurately placing his volleys for winners. Fitzgerald won the last 7 games of the match.

“I took a chance and got my ranking back on the map,” Fitzgerald said. “Hopefully, from now on I’ll play well here because it’s a great tournament.”

Fitzgerald is coming off a leg injury incurred 2 months ago when he tore a right calf muscle during a match in Canada.

The tournament, part of the Nabisco Grand Prix series, offers the singles champion $100,000.

Top-seeded Pam Shriver eliminated Judith Wiesner of Austria, 4-6, 7-5, 6-0, in the opening round of the $200,000 European Indoor women’s tournament at Zurich, Switzerland.

In a second-round match, fifth-seeded Katerina Maleeva of Bulgaria defeated Isabelle Demongeot of France, 6-4, 6-2, to advance to the quarterfinals.

In other first-round matches, eighth-seeded Raffaella Reggi of Italy ousted Cathy Caversazio of Switzerland, 6-3, 6-3, and Swedish qualifier Jonna Jonerup, ranked 216th, downed Jana Novotna of Czechoslovakia, who is 80th, 7-5, 7-6. Shriver will meet Jonerup in the second round.