TENNIS ROUNDUP : Becker Doesn’t Waste Time, Sweeps Edberg

Top-seeded Boris Becker said he had no choice but to take risks early. His leg muscles were tightening after playing nearly 14 hours during the previous four days.

He bandaged his thigh midway through the Paris Open final Sunday against Stefan Edberg.

“At the end of the second set, it started to hurt more,” Becker said. “I knew in the third set I had to win quickly, because the longer it gets the harder it gets.”

It never got easier for Edberg. Becker won, 6-4, 6-3, 6-3, just as he had swept the Swede, 6-0, 7-6, 6-4, in the Wimbledon final earlier in the year.

“I knew that when I wasn’t 100%, I wouldn’t be able to run much,” said Becker, who had three long three-set matches against Guy Forget, Wally Masur and John McEnroe earlier in the Paris Open. “I wasn’t able to go from side to side. I had to risk more. I had no choice but to try to hit winners--and I hit winners.”

Edberg could not cope with the pressure of Becker’s serve and continually sprayed service returns out of the court. Becker had 19 aces and 14 service winners.

“The key to his game is to break his service,” Edberg said. “If not, you don’t get any chances to take advantage, and I was not serving very good today.”

Becker set the tone of the match by breaking Edberg in the opening game. The West German then held his serve for a 2-0 advantage, which he kept through the remainder of the day.

“It was definitely my best match I played against Stefan,” Becker said. “At Wimbledon, he had his chances. Today, he had no chances at all.”

Becker, 21, earned $300,000 in winning his fifth title of the year and 24th of his career.

“I think I am playing the best tennis of my career,” Becker said. “Winning at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open gives me a lot of confidence.”

Meanwhile, McEnroe was fined $350 for unsportsmanlike conduct for his second-round outburst against Horst Skoff of Austria, the Men’s Tennis Council announced.

Except for one upset in the 1988 U.S. Open, Martina Navratilova has never lost to Zina Garrison, but Navratilova chose the humble approach after her 6-2, 6-3 victory in the final of a $300,000 tournament at Worcester, Mass.

“I guess I should thank Gabriela (Sabatini) for this victory,” said Navratilova, who has defeated Garrison 26 times in their 27 meetings. “(Garrison) played a very emotional match last night, and it was tough for her to come back from that.”

Garrison upset Sabatini, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-3).

Navratilova, who earned $60,000 for first place, quickly put pressure on Garrison’s serve, rifling a pair of winning forehands to the corners during a third-game service break.