Agassi Advances; Becker Forced to Withdraw

Andre Agassi missed three easy overhead smashes in the first set Monday, then made the shots he needed to start the French Open with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-1 victory over three-time winner Mats Wilander on center court.

Agassi, ranked 19th, advanced to the second round against clay-court specialist Thomas Muster of Austria. No. 11 Muster defeated Andrei Cherkasov of Russia, 6-0, 7-5, 6-1.

The only casualty in the men’s draw was No. 10 Boris Becker, who withdrew because of a pulled back muscle minutes before he was scheduled to play Jonathan Stark, the former Stanford All-American.

Becker, the three-time Wimbledon champion, reached the final of the Italian Open in Rome last week, but was in too much pain to play at Roland Garros Stadium here, said his coach, Nick Bollettieri.

He said Becker, who has never won the French Open title, suffered the injury during the semifinals in Rome, although Becker did not mention it at the time.

Becker played an exhibition Sunday against MaliVai Washington and practiced early Monday, but decided he was unable to play.

Stark took advantage of the withdrawal by defeating Becker’s replacement, Brent Larkham of Australia, 6-2, 6-3, 6-7 (7-4), 6-3.

Advancing to the second round with three-set victories were top-ranked Pete Sampras, over Alberto Costa of Spain, and No. 4 Andrei Medvedev of Russia, over Wally Masur of Australia. In an all-Southern California matchup, Jeff Tarango of Manhattan Beach defeated Chuck Adams of Pacific Palisades, 6-4, 6-2, 3-6, 6-1.

Agassi, who is returning from wrist surgery, is a two-time French Open finalist. He last played Wilander in the 1988 French Open, when the Swede won his last championship here.

“This was not like a first-round match,” Agassi said. “I really felt a sense of nerves, sense of pressure, excitement.”

It showed in the first set when he hit three lazy overhead shots long. But Agassi was patient enough to overpower Wilander. He held off five set points in the second set to take control.