TENNIS ROUNDUP : Edberg and Agassi Have Plenty of Reasons for Losing

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden and fourth-seeded Andre Agassi were in good form Wednesday only when it came to explaining away defeats to unseeded players in the second round of the $1-million Monte Carlo Open.

Edberg, the world’s top-ranked player, was defeated by Magnus Larsson, also of Sweden, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-3).

“It was my first match of the year on clay,” Edberg said. “It was a tough match and tough conditions, and it’s hard coming from hard courts.”

Horst Skoff of Austria beat Agassi, 6-0, 6-7 (7-3), 6-3.

“I had a slow start,” Agassi said. “I didn’t concentrate. It was new surroundings. It was my first time here. He was hitting a heavy slice and I wasn’t getting a lot of depth on the shots.”

Boris Becker, the world’s second-ranked player, didn’t have to offer any excuses after he came from behind for a second-round victory over Javier Sanchez Vicario of Spain, 6-7, (7-3), 6-3, 6-3.

Jordi Arrese of Spain, who eliminated Bjorn Borg in the opening round, was ousted in the second round by Goran Ivanisevic of Yugoslavia, 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-5). Alberto Mancini of Argentina downed Javier’s brother, Emilio Sanchez, 6-3, 6-3.

In other second-round matches, Claudio Pistolesi of Italy beat Juan Aguilera of Spain, 6-3, 1-6, 7-5; Goran Prpic of Yugoslavia defeated Richard Fromberg of Australia, 6-1, 6-4, and sixth-seeded Jonas Svensson of Sweden beat Dinu Pescariu of Romania, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4.

Third-seeded Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Bulgaria defeated Nicole Jagerman of the Netherlands, 7-5, 6-3, and advanced to the third round of a women’s tournament at Barcelona, Spain.

In another match, sixth-seeded Judith Wiesner of Austria beat Pascale Etchemendy of France, 6-4, 0-6, 7-5.