Agassi Single-Handedly Wipes Out Becker : Men’s tennis: West German star says he was tired after playing doubles in the desert. Agassi will face Edberg in final today.

Boris Becker’s single-mindedness has backfired.

First, he abandoned his recreational golf game to concentrate on tennis. It worked well for the first few days of the Newsweek Champions Cup here. Then came Saturday’s semifinal against sixth-seeded Andre Agassi. Agassi got what he called his biggest victory ever, beating Becker with surprising ease, 6-4, 6-1.

Becker, the tournament’s top seed and ranked No. 2 in the world, looked as if he had already played several sets before the match started under a bright sun Saturday morning. He explained his sluggish play simply: “I was really exhausted.”

Here’s why. By cutting out the golf and sticking to tennis, Becker said he overdid it. He played not only singles here, but also doubles, putting him on the court, and in the heat, for several hours each day. Apparently, his ‘single’-mindedness didn’t exclude doubles.

Becker had remembered last year, when he admitted he had come to the tennis tournament to play golf. Result: a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Jay Berger in the third round, which remains his worst loss as a professional.

This year, he vowed, no golf. However, Becker has been playing doubles here with Frenchman Guy Forget, and their success (as they continued to advance) contributed to Becker’s fatigue. Too many matches. Becker and Forget reached the doubles final, even if Becker didn’t singly.

Stefan Edberg beat Jim Courier in the other semifinal, 6-4, 6-1, and will meet Agassi in today’s final at 11 a.m.

“The last few days have taken their toll,” Becker said, explaining what appears to be an upset. “With singles and doubles, I have played every day, five sets. I was really exhausted. I couldn’t push it anymore.”

Last year it was too much golf. This year, “Too much tennis,” Becker said.

Becker came into the match having beaten Agassi all three times they had played. Becker looked fine in the first set, breaking Agassi in the third game. But after he held his service to go up 4-2, Becker lost nine consecutive games, until he won his only game in the second set.

“In the second set, my game fell apart,” Becker said. The singles match before this one took Becker 2 hours and 44 minutes to win, the longest match in the tournament.

Agassi was, as usual, chasing down every ball and keeping the pressure on, even when it was clear that Becker was not his normal self.

“A few points went my way and all of a sudden I won the set,” Agassi said. “When momentum changes on you, there’s not a lot you can do.”

Everything was bothering Becker. A helicopter buzzed the court and Becker glared at it. His rackets (he used a few in the course of the match) failed him and he glared at them.

If he found a mirror after the match, Becker might have glared into it.

“There were distractions that bothered me more than usual,” he said.

For Agassi, it was his first victory against a player ranked in the top three. Agassi, who is ranked No. 8 in the world, played down the significance of the victory, but when pressed said he thought it might be his best victory.

The second semifinal shared the first match’s score, and its utter lack of suspense. Edberg announced his intentions early by breaking Courier in the first game. Edberg would break Courier’s serve five times in the match, causing the mercurial Floridian to remark after the match, “Apparently I got outplayed out there.”

Edberg’s serve-and-volley style is predicated on a consistent, if not overpowering, first serve. In this he made few mistakes, getting in 81% of his first serves, to Courier’s 63%. Consider this statistic as it applied to Becker’s game. Becker, who relies on a huge serve to help him get to the net, got in only 50% of his first serves.

Edberg was unflappable compared to Courier, who wore his frustration for the world to see. In a key third game in the second set, with the score at deuce, Courier and Edberg engaged in a long rally. Edberg finally won the point, but Courier was enraged over an earlier non-call on a ball he thought was out. He bounced his racket off the court and said something that caused the chair umpire to cite a code violation.

Edberg broke Courier on the next point and Courier pointed his racket, machine-gun-style, at the umpire and fired off a few make-believe rounds.

Courier, who turned pro in 1988, is not without his real weapons. His serve has been clocked at more than 100 m.p.h. this week. His forehand is blossoming into a thing of beauty and power.

Courier had 10 forehand winners to Edberg’s none Saturday, but he also had 13 unforced errors on that side as opposed to Edberg’s seven.

“I was a little antsy out there,” Courier said. “He was keeping the ball in play. I was trying to do too much. I wanted to be patient. I went for one or two shots too soon.”

If he showed little patience, and a flash of temper, it is helpful to keep in mind Courier is only 19. His victories are coming with some frequency. His ranking is improving. He is gaining confidence, which is sure to help.

Or, as Agassi--who is fast becoming the Casey Stengel of tennis--said of his own potential, “I’ve just scratched the iceberg.”