96th-Ranked Player Upsets Andre Agassi

Carl-Uwe Steeb, ranked 96th in the world, broke third-seeded Andre Agassi’s serve four consecutive times and scored a straight-set upset over the American today in the first round of the International Players Championships.

Steeb won 6-4, 7-5, 6-0. The West German captured the final eight games.

Agassi, ranked fourth, became the first player seeded in the top 16 to be ousted from the two-week, $2.1-million tournament.

The left-handed Steeb, who upset Mats Wilander in the Davis Cup finals last year, relied on a blistering forehand and a serve of up to 110 m.p.h. to beat Agassi.

In other matches today, top-seeded Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia swept Todd Woodbridge of Australia 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.

Sukova Advances

In women’s play, third-seeded Helena Sukova of Czechoslovakia needed only 46 minutes to beat Sophie Amiach of France 6-1, 6-1. No. 10 Lori McNeil of Houston beat Manon Bollegraf of The Netherlands 6-4, 6-3.

Five of the world’s top 10 ranked men and women are entered in the two-week tournament.

On Monday, 10th-seeded Aaron Krickstein of Grosse Pointe, Mich., needed more than three hours to beat Brazil’s Luiz Mattar, 4-6, 3-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-0, 7-6 (7-5).

“Mentally I wasn’t into it 100%,” said Krickstein, who has won eight of his last nine five-setters but might be even more successful if he could avoid them.