AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Becker Wins Easily, Worries About Timing

Boris Becker, in eager pursuit of a third straight Grand Slam title, is worried about peaking too soon in the Australian Open after flexing his muscles in a first-round showpiece.

Becker pummeled travel-weary Paul Haarhuis 6-1, 6-2, 6-1 today, just a few hours after the Dutchman arrived from New Zealand following visa difficulties.

Haarhuis, who upset John McEnroe in the second round of the U.S. Open last fall, never had a chance against the Becker onslaught.

Becker, the Wimbledon and U.S. Open champion, said the McEnroe upset was on his mind.

“It’s the reason why I played very hard in the first round, which is not normal for me,” he said. “In a Grand Slam, you can’t play too well too early. You have to wait a little bit. There’s a fine line between not playing too good and playing too bad.

“If I want to do good in a Grand Slam, I have to peak the last three days. If you peak too early, then you might not be able to peak again.”

While Becker looked sharp, Stefan Edberg and McEnroe issued warnings that they might be ready to stop him as he goes after Ivan Lendl’s Australian title and No. 1 ranking.

The soft-spoken but confident Edberg, 1985 and 1987 Australian Open champion, won his first-round match today and proclaimed himself ready to challenge No. 1 Lendl and No. 2 Becker for the top spot in men’s tennis.

“I see myself there,” said the No. 3 Edberg, whose highest ranking was No. 2 in 1987. “I feel strongly that I can come back to challenge.”

Edberg beat Swedish-born Johan Anderson, who lives in Australia, 7-6 (7-1), 6-3, 6-4, in a first-round match on center court just before Becker took on Haarhuis.

McEnroe made his debut on center court earlier in the day and swept to an easy victory over Thierry Tulasne of France. (Story, C2.)

In other first-round matches today, No. 5 Aaron Krickstein of Grosse Point, Mich., beat Italy’s Gianluca Pozzi 6-4, 6-7 (6-8), 6-4, 7-5; No. 8 Mats Wilander of Sweden beat Australian Richard Fromberg 7-6 (7-5), 7-5, 7-5 and No. 9 Andres Gomez of Ecuador beat Australian Darren Cahill, a 1988 U.S. Open semifinalist, 4-6, 6-3, 1-6, 6-2, 6-3.

No. 10 Carl-Uwe Steeb, who beat fellow West German Becker last week in Sydney, lost to Veli Paloheimo of Finland 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2, 6-2.

No. 11 Andrei Chesnokov beat Australian Mark Kratzmann 3-6, 6-7 (4-7), 7-6 (7-5), 6-3, 6-2.

No. 12 Yannick Noah of France struggled past Yugoslav Goran Prpic 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2, 4-6, 7-5; and No. 15 Thomas Muster beat West German Pavel Vojtisek 6-3, 6-2, 6-4.

In women’s play, No. 2 Gabriela Sabatini beat Amy Frazier of Rochester Hills, Mich., 7-5, 6-1; No. 3 Zina Garrison of Houston defeated Akiko Kijimuta of Japan, 6-1, 6-2 and No. 4 Czech Helena Sukova beat Australian Tracey Morton 6-4, 6-3.