Becker Rallies Past Gomez in ATP Match : Tennis: Playing in his homeland, the German overcomes a thigh injury and a one-set deficit to advance.

Boris Becker, eagerly expected to fill the role of German national hero, lived up to his fans’ hopes when he fought back from a set down today to beat Andres Gomez at the ATP World Championships.

The saga of whether Becker would be fit to play has dominated the news in recent days and the triple Wimbledon champion did not let down the home crowd.

He beat Gomez, the French Open champion from Ecuador, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in exactly two hours in his first Group B round-robin match at the two-million-dollar event.

U.S. Open champion Pete Sampras, beaten Tuesday by fellow American Andre Agassi, hung on with a chance when he defeated Spaniard Emilio Sanchez, 6-2, 6-4, in group A.

Sampras could still reach the semifinals--but only by beating world No. 1 Stefan Edberg on Friday.

Becker, who has been getting over a thigh muscle injury which forced him out of the Paris indoor final against Edberg 10 days ago, looked to be in trouble at first.

Gomez refused to be awed by Becker’s famous service, returning easily everything that the German could throw at him.

It was a service return which gave Gomez the only break of the first set, in the 10th game. Becker, surprised by Gomez’s return, lunged in vain across court to try to reach the ball.

But in the second set Gomez’s reactions slowed fractionally and Becker sharpened up his game.

Bad forehand mistakes by Gomez gave Becker breaks in the seventh and ninth games and he began the deciding set in style with a love game.