Becker, Lendl Struggle to Wimbledon Victories

A pair of Latin American upstarts gave Boris Becker and Ivan Lendl fits before the top two seeds won their opening-day matches at Wimbledon today.

Lendl, seeded No. 1, started his latest run for a first Wimbledon championship by dropping the first set against Christian Miniussi before beating the 22-year-old from Argentina, 3-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4.

It was a staggering start for Lendl, who had devoted his season to winning at Wimbledon and fine-tuned his game for three months on grass courts.

Even when he was down a set, however, Lendl was confident he had taken the correct path.

“You don’t worry about what you’ve been doing, you worry about what you’re going to do to get out of it,” he said.

It was the second year in a row that Lendl struggled against a young South American in the first round. Last year, he needed five sets to defeat Nicolas Pereira of Venezuela in his opener.

Becker, the defending champion and second seed, looked uncomfortable, of all things, on the Centre Court grass he calls his second home.

He slipped all over the place but kept his feet--and his power game--often enough to beat 18-year-old Luis Herrera of Mexico, 7-6, 7-6, 7-5.

“It was very wet and soft,” Becker said. “The first round is always difficult, but on such a court it is more difficult.”

Wimbledon’s two-week run quickly produced its first upsets, with the men’s and women’s 16th seeds eliminated.

Yannick Noah of France lost to an 18-year-old qualifier from South Africa.

Wayne Ferreira took advantage of Noah’s service problems and won, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2, on an outside court, almost before the fans on Centre Court were in their seats awaiting Becker’s opener against Herrera or Lendl’s match against Miniussi on Court 1.

“This loss was tough,” Noah said. “Wimbledon was always special to me.”

Ferreira, winner of the Wimbledon junior doubles title last year, broke for the match at love when Noah double-faulted. Noah gave the teen-ager a break with another double fault earlier in that set.

British tennis, maligned for so long, got something positive on a sun-dappled day.

Sarah Loosemore, undecided whether to pursue a tennis career or go to Oxford University, beat 16th-seeded Barbara Paulus of Austria, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

Other early matches produced the expected results, although some were close.

Brad Gilbert of the United States, the No. 7 seed, had a tough time before beating Bruno Oresar of Yugoslavia, 6-1, 3-6, 4-6, 6-1, 6-2; 10th-seeded Jonas Svensson of Sweden defeated Fabrice Santoro of France, 6-4, 6-3, 6-2; David Wheaton of the United States beat Magnus Larsson of Sweden, 7-6, 6-4, 6-2, and Pat Cash, the 1987 Wimbledon winner who needed a wild-card invitation this year, overcame Dimitri Poliakov of the Soviet Union, 4-6, 7-6, 5-7, 6-4, 6-1.

Hana Mandlikova of Australia, a former U.S. Open champion who has said she is retiring after Wimbledon, struggled before beating Laura Lapi of Italy, 6-3, 3-6, 11-9.

Mandlikova saved three match points in the 11th game of the third set, then wasted two of her own in the 16th game. She finally broke for the match on a beautiful cross-court backhand and three Lapi errors.

Mandlikova said that as the match progressed, she thought about this possibly being the last singles match of her career. She did not want to let that happen.

“It’s tough, but Wimbledon is always something special,” Mandlikova said. “At Wimbledon, no matter what, you’re always motivated to win.”

A sporting event that prides itself on continuity, Wimbledon has undergone major changes this year and is being asked to consider even greater upheavals.

The standing sections on Centre Court are gone, part of a huge face lift to ensure safety. John McEnroe wants a dome placed over the courts. Some critics are calling for artificial turf.

But perhaps the most shocking changes can be found within the women’s draw for the two-week tournament.

Chris Evert is missing from the courts after nearly two decades. A pair of Florida-based teens, Monica Seles and Jennifer Capriati, are working their way to the top.

And the once-unsinkable Steffi Graf needs a title to re-establish her supremacy in women’s tennis. Though still No. 1, Graf has lost twice in a row to Seles.

While the men’s competition features its usual subplots--the athleticism of Becker vs. the determination of Lendl, another bid by McEnroe to turn back the clock--the women’s event has more story lines than “Twin Peaks.”

Graf has won the last two Wimbledon titles over Martina Navratilova, and they again are the top two seeds. They also are the best grass-court players in women’s tennis.

“I know my time is running out, and I want to make sure I give it my best effort this year,” said Navratilova, 33, who is seeking her record ninth Wimbledon singles title.

Navratilova skipped most of the clay-court season to prepare for Wimbledon. She showed her strength on grass during the weekend by clobbering Gretchen Magers in the final of a tournament at Eastbourne, England, one day after experiencing knee pain.

“I feel I am one of only a few players who can win it,” she said. “I’ve done everything I can to prepare, and the grass, it’s my stuff.”

Graf, 21, still terrorizes most opponents and crushed Seles, 6-0, 6-1, in the fourth round of Wimbledon last year. Her recent loses to Seles in the finals of the German and French opens were on clay.

But youngsters such as Seles and Capriati are not bothered by history or their inexperience on the grass surface.

Capriati, 14, a quarterfinalist in the junior girls tournament at Wimbledon last year, is the youngest seed in Grand Slam history at No. 12. After winning her first grass-court match as a pro last week, she said, “I think it’s a neat surface.”

Seles is buoyed by her two consecutive victories over Graf and a 6-1, 6-1 trouncing of Navratilova on clay in the Italian Open.

“Clay is my best surface,” Seles said. “But maybe I can win on grass as well.”