Outcomes Differ for Tennis Titans : U.S. Open: Both struggle, but Becker hangs on after two-time defending champion Edberg is eliminated.

When the mighty struggles of Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker had ended Thursday night in the U.S. Open, the only appropriate reaction for both was flamboyance.

Edberg had lost; Becker had won. And the incredible effort they had put forth to that end had left them drained, as well as the huge crowds that rode the roller coasters of daylong emotions with the two tennis superstars.

So when two-time defending champion Edberg, normally as outgoing as a monk, whacked a ball into the Grandstand seats and tossed towels and water bottles to the fans in harmless frustration after watching helplessly as Karel Novacek’s topspin lob drifted over his head on match point, it was entirely fitting.

And when former champion Becker, normally as outgoing as a New York taxi driver, watched Andrei Cherkasov’s service return flop gently into the net on match point and then proceeded to shake his opponent’s hand and lead cheers for himself in the Stadium, it was entirely fitting.

Edberg, seeded third, battled for 3 hours 6 minutes before bowing out against the unseeded, No. 18-ranked Novacek, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4, 4-6, 6-4. The loss marked only the third time in the era of open tennis that the U.S. Open champion had lost as early as the second round. Mats Wilander lost to Pete Sampras in 1989, and Ilie Nastase lost to Andrew Pattison in 1973.

For Edberg, it was a bitter sweet loss, much more so than just an upset in a Grand Slam event.

“I had a reasonable draw in this tournament, I have been playing reasonably well, and once I get going, I probably would be pretty tough to beat here,” he said. “I did what I did, and there is nothing else to it. This has been a great place to me the last two years. I have alot of great memories.”

Becker, seeded fourth, took nearly 24 hours to get past the always-dangerous Cherkasov, ranked No. 47. The match had started Wednesday night, gotten to 15-all of the first game, and the rains came. It began again in midafternoon Thursday, and Becker immediately went two sets down before rallying to win the third set and getting in set point at 6:25 p.m., just as the rains came again.

The match resumed at 7:35 p.m. and ended at 9:25, with Becker completing his comeback by serving for the match at 5-4 of the fifth. The score was 3-6, 6-7 (10-8), 7-5, 6-4, 6-4, and the effort (elapsed match time: 4 hours 43 minutes) marked the eighth time in his career that Becker had come from two sets down to win.

Included in those comebacks are memorable efforts such as beating Andre Agassi in a Davis Cup semifinal in Munich in 1989 that was also spread over two days and putting on a dramatic rally against Derrick Rostagno in the second round of the ’89 U.S. Open that included a match point against him. Becker went on to win the title that year.

The drama surrounding Becker’s match went a bit beyond just five-set theatrics. As he played, it was well known how angry he was at tournament officials for scheduling his first round as late as Wednesday night. It was also easy to figure out why, since the rain delay had put him in a position to now need to play seven matches in the next 11 days if he is to win.

“We will see just how fit he is,” Cherkasov said.

So angry was Becker afterward that he passed up something he normally thrives on--the post-match news conference. He said it was late, that he had to play again Friday and that he would give one pool reporter a few minutes only.

In that interview, he said: “I think it is poor for the tournament to put a guy like Becker Wednesday night when he is already in town the week before and asking the tournament referee to play me as early as possible.”

Match No. 2 of Becker’s endurance test will be Friday at about 4 p.m. He will face Jacob Hlasek, a Czech who probably will keep Becker out on the court for another four hours.

There will be no next match for Edberg, who indicated he will depart New York with a heavyheart. Will he watch next week’s final?

“Probably not,” he said, quietly, all of the flamboyance now gone.