Wilander, Becker Win at Monte Carlo Open

Mats Wilander of Sweden and Boris Becker of West Germany, the top two seeds, continued on a collision course today as they won their quarterfinals at the $607,500 Monte Carlo Open tennis tournament.

Wilander, top-seeded and ranked No. 2 in the world, topped Ronald Agenor of Haiti, the No. 10 seed, 6-3, 7-6, 8-6.

“It’s the longest I’ve gone in a tournament since the U.S. Open,” Wilander said. In 1988 he won three of the four Grand Slam tournaments but has had a poor start in 1989.

Becker, second seeded and ranked third in the world, whipped a clay-court specialist, Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina, 6-3, 6-3.

“I played good tennis and had a good time. I enjoyed it,” Becker said.

In another quarterfinal, Horst Skoff of Austria, seeded 13th, gained a 6-4, 6-4 decision over Jan Gunnarsson of Sweden. Skoff also made the semifinals at Monte Carlo two years ago.

Also, Alberto Mancini of Argentina downed Carl Uwe Steeb of West Germany 6-3, 6-3.

The tournament, the first major clay-court event of the season, offers a $122,900 first-place prize.

Wilander, who won Monte Carlo in 1987, was down 1-3 in the first set when he won five straight games.