Geneva Open’s Top 2 Seeds Lose

Top-seeded Alberto Mancini of Argentina and No. 2 seed Sergio Bruguera of Spain were ousted in the first round of the $220,000 Geneva Open tennis tournament today.

Mancini, who won the Italian Open earlier this year, lost to Belgian qualifier Xavier Daufresne 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Bruguera lost to unseeded Christian Bergstroem of Sweden, 6-3, 0-6, 6-2.

Daufresne, a 20-year-old ranked 470th in the world, took advantage of Mancini’s erratic ground strokes and leg cramps at the end of the third set to topple the world’s 11th-ranked player.

‘I Was Lucky’

“I tried not to be ridiculous at the beginning of the match,” said Daufresne, a Belgian army recruit on special leave for the tournament. “And I was lucky that he had cramps at 5-6 in the last set.”

The Waterloo native, playing only his second Grand Prix tournament, is Belgium’s third-ranked player.

“The more matches I play here, the less time I have to spend in the barracks. If I lose in the next round, I have to return right away,” Daufresne said.

“I don’t know what happened,” said Mancini, the sensation of the 1989 spring season with victories in the Italian Open and at Monte Carlo, where he beat Boris Becker in the final. “I never had cramps as a pro before.

“To change from the cement of the U.S. Open last week to clay here was difficult. He started nervous, but when he saw I was impatient, he played better.”

Surprised at Win

Bergstroem said he was surprised that he won, noting that Bruguera is ranked 26th in the world while he is only 85th.

“I was operated on for my tonsils this January and have not done well lately,” said the Goeteborg native who was the 1984 Swedish junior champion.