Tennis Roundup

Controversial Natalia Zvereva of the Soviet Union, who was at the top of her game this time last year while making it all the way to the French Open final, may be behind schedule this year. Or, she may have learned the art of tanking a match.

With the start of the French in Paris five days away, Zvereva entered a tuneup tournament in Geneva and quickly was ousted by U.S. qualifier Shaun Stafford. Stafford, 20, of Gainesville, Fla., who has been on the pro tour since February and is ranked 92nd in the world, beat Zvereva, 6-3, 7-6 (6-3).

Zvereva, who created a stir recently by announcing that she will now take larger portions of her winnings instead of letting the vast percentage of it go to the Soviet tennis federation, said afterward that she wasn’t surprised that she lost, since she entered “to play doubles.” She said she was surprised to learn that all entrants had to play both singles and doubles.

A U.S. men’s team swept its first-round match against Switzerland in the World Team Cup tournament in Dusseldorf, West Germany. Tim Mayotte beat Jacob Hlasek, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1; Aaron Krickstein beat Claudio Mezzadri, 5-7, 6-4, 6-0, and the doubles team of Rick Leach and Jim Pugh beat Hlasek and Heinz Guenthardt, 6-3, 6-4.