TENNIS ROUNDUP : Troubled Becker Falls Quickly to Krickstein

Aaron Krickstein knocked top-seeded Boris Becker out of the Monte Carlo Open on Thursday with a 6-1, 6-4 third-round rout that took only 72 minutes.

Becker’s famed serve failed him and he heard derisive whistles from the crowd as Krickstein, seeded 16th and the last American in the tournament, dominated the match.

“The problem was my serve. It was going in fast, but I couldn’t win a game,” Becker said. “It didn’t really happen to me before like that. At the end, I really didn’t know how to win games on my serve.”

Actually, Becker conceded, it was more than his serve that troubled him on the red clay courts.

“Pretty much everything was a problem. I had a hard time playing four or five balls in the court,” Becker said. “I just didn’t play well. That is the bottom line.”

Krickstein came into the match ranked 24th in the world. Becker is third.

“Boris obviously didn’t play his best today,” Krickstein said. “But I was playing well. He has beaten me all five times we played before, and I think I was due.”

Becker lost six consecutive games and four consecutive service games.

“There was a time at the end of the first set I barely made a point,” Becker said. “But then I came back. I was at 2-all and still the match was not over.”

He and Krickstein alternated losing service games after that until it was 4-3 in favor of Krickstein, who held to go up, 5-3. Krickstein closed out the match two games later, winning a love game with an ace.

“Sometimes it just doesn’t go my way. But, of course, this time of the year I have to struggle. It is not my court,” Becker said.

“My time is coming in June.”

Wimbledon begins June 22.

Krickstein next plays Russian Andrei Chesnokov, who won the title here two years ago. Chesnokov defeated ninth-seeded Karel Novacek of Czechoslovakia, 6-2, 7-5.

Third-seeded Michael Stich of Germany, who defeated Becker at Wimbledon last year, eliminated Javier Sanchez of Spain, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5). Thomas Muster of Austria upset fourth-seeded Guy Forget of France, 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-3.

Muster takes on Swedish qualifier Mikael Tillstroem in the quarterfinals. Stich meets Croatian Goran Prpic, a 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 winner over Magnus Larsson of Sweden.

Carl-Uwe Steeb of Germany eliminated Wayne Ferreira of South Africa, 6-2, 6-1, in under than an hour.

Second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain breezed to a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Radka Zrubakova of Czechoslovakia in the second round of the International Women’s Tennis Championships of Spain at Barcelona.

Third-seeded Conchita Martinez, another Spaniard, also won easily, defeating Nathalie Guerree of France, 6-1, 6-0.