Agassi and Lendl Win at French Open : Wilander Also Moves Into 3rd Round; Lori McNeil Upset in Women’s Division

Andre Agassi led a U.S charge into the third round of the French Open today, but the favorite for the men’s title, Ivan Lendl of Czechoslovakia, moved toward peak clay-court form on the second leg of his bid for the Grand Slam.

Agassi, the No. 5 seed, outclassed Italy’s Paolo Cane 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 on Center Court.

But the top-seeded Lendl, the Australian Open champion, fared even better, destroying Derrick Rostagno of the United States 6-1, 6-3, 6-1 as he swept toward a fourth French crown.

Too Much for Italian

Agassi’s solid service, heavy ground strokes and court speed were too much for the Italian.

Agassi also defeated Cane in the first round in Paris last year and went on to reach the semifinals.

“Although I beat Cane easily last year, it was all kind of new to me, and it wasn’t until the quarterfinals that I felt great,” Agassi said. “Last year, being in the semifinal was enough for me. Now I feel I have the mind to go all the way. That creates a whole different level of tennis.”

Agassi was joined in round three by Michael Chang of Placentia, who hammered Pete Sampras of Rancho Palos Verdes 6-1, 6-1, 6-1.

Chang, who reached the round of 16 at last year’s U.S. Open as a 16-year-old, took just 1 hour, 37 minutes on the day’s opening Center Court match to beat his fellow 17-year-old.

Defending champion Mats Wilander, putting a disastrous year behind him, scored another straight-set victory today and surged into the third round.

The Swede, only seeded fourth after a season in which he has failed to win a tournament and has lost to a succession of unheralded opponents, beat Diego Perez of Uruguay 6-3, 7-6, 6-3.

Lori McNeil of the United States became the fifth women’s seed to bow out of the tournament when she was upset 6-2, 6-1 by Manon Bollegraf of the Netherlands.

“I just had an off day,” McNeil said. “She forced me a lot and rushed me. I never settled down.”

Manuela Maleeva, the No. 6 seed, reached round three by beating Sandra Wasserman of Belgium 6-3, 5-7, 6-3.

In doubles play, top-seeded Americans Rick Leach and Jim Pugh bowed out in the first round today without so much as a fight.

Leach and Pugh, who won the Australian Open and Nabisco Masters titles last year when they surged to the No. 1 spot in the world rankings, were beaten by Ricki Osterthun of West Germany and Alex Antonitsch of Austria 6-2, 6-4.

Leach was too disappointed to attend the post-match news conference, but Pugh summed up the feelings of both players.

“It was probably the worst match we have ever played,” he said. “Usually we fight to the last point, but here we went down very early.”