TENNIS ROUNDUP : Bad Noise for Becker Is Good News for Edberg

Stefan Edberg clung to the No. 1 ranking in tennis by default as Boris Becker “heard something pop” in his thigh before retiring from their final in the first set Sunday at the Paris indoor championship.

The strongest field of the year--38 of the top 43 players--was not able to keep Edberg and Becker from meeting again to decide things.

The only other tournament final this year that someone retired from was the Australian Open, when a stomach muscle pull stopped Edberg. That gave Ivan Lendl the Grand Slam victory.

“I think it evens out,” Edberg said. “I got hurt in Australia. So I sort of got it back on credit today.”

Becker’s injury threw doubts over his participation in the year-ending ATP World Championships Nov. 13-18.

“I felt something pop at 30-all on my serve at 2-all,” Becker said after he had limped off the court in the first set, tied at 3-3. “I hit a forehand volley. He hit a short return that I came in on and then I heard something pop.

“I really don’t know at this stage what it is. I have to see my doctor in Munich and he will tell me more and how bad and how and why and so on and then we’ll know more.”

Becker will be examined today by Dr. Wolfgang Mueller-Wohlfahrt, who has treated the German star before for various leg injuries.

“I have not had something like this before, not that bad,” Becker said. “It’s a muscle on the left leg on the top of the left thigh.

“The last two days the right side was worse, and I was playing more or less on my left side,” Becker said. “I guess it took its toll.”

Edberg gained his seventh title of the year out of 11 finals. Becker lost his fifth of 10 finals.

Edberg picked up $270,000 for less than 45 minutes work. Becker got $145,240.

Edberg gained the No. 1 position in August. Becker had been climbing closer with victories over the Swede in Sydney and Stockholm in straight sets.

Edberg had beaten Becker at Wimbledon and knew something was wrong on Sunday.

“I thought he was a little slow, like at the beginning of Wimbledon but I didn’t think much about it,” Edberg said.

Edberg was up two quick sets at Wimbledon before Becker came back to force a five-set final.

Unseeded Natalia Medvedeva became the second Soviet to win the Virginia Slims of Nashville singles championship with a 6-3, 7-6 (7-3) victory over fifth-seeded Susan Sloane.

Medvedeva overpowered Sloane, the 1988 winner at Nashville, with a strong forehand and a booming serve in winning her first singles title and $27,000.

Leila Meskhi won the Nashville tournament last year.

“My mother made the trip to Nashville, and I think I always play better when she is at the match,” Medvedeva said. “She has been my primary coach.”

Sloane said she was unable to recover from a slow start.

“She placed the ball so well today and made very few errors,” Sloane said. “I got a late start and could not recover.”

University of Georgia senior Al Parker defeated Jonathan Stark of Stanford, 6-1, 6-4, at Athens, Ga., to win the Volvo Tennis Collegiate championship, the first leg of the Collegiate Grand Slam.

Parker, of Claxton, Ga., defeated Stark for the title last year, 6-3, 7-6.