AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Little Mac Attack Fells No.3 Becker

Patrick McEnroe is an excellent doubles player who has long been overshadowed by his famous brother older John when it comes to singles.

Still, singles is where fortune lies in tennis, and Patrick has been putting in extra time on the practice court. It paid off last weekend, when he won his first singles titles at the New South Wales Open in Sydney.

Payment continued Wednesday, when he upset third-seeded Boris Becker, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), in the first round of the Australian Open.

“It’s not something that just happens,” McEnroe said. “Over a course of time, it’s a lot of hard work. I’m always looking for something to try to improve.”

It all came together against Becker, along with a bit of luck.

“I tried to keep my consistency throughout, keep my serves in and hope he had an off-night,” said McEnroe. “He obviously did.”

It was the fourth time Becker has lost in the first round of a Grand Slam tournament and the second time in the Australian Open. It was also McEnroe’s biggest victory in a Grand Slam event, and helped avenge his loss to Becker in the 1991 Australian Open semifinal.

“I just played bad tennis,” Becker said. “I had no timing, no rhythm, especially on my forehand. And I played against an opponent who was still flying high on his emotions.”

The upsets continued in the women’s draw, where fifth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini, coming off consecutive victories in the New South Wales Open and last year’s Virginia Slims Championship, strained her lower right back and lost, 6-4, 6-4, to Marianne Werdel Witmeyer.

McEnroe, guiding backhand cross-court winners within inches of the lines, ran into trouble only in the third set when Becker went up, 3-0 and 5-2. But McEnroe slowly clawed his way back into the set to force it into a tiebreaker.

McEnroe appeared to demoralize Becker with a sharp backhander that hit the corner for a winner to open the tiebreaker on Becker’s serve. Becker was never able to get the minibreak back, hitting three of the last four points into the net off McEnroe’s strong serves.

Becker had 14 aces, McEnroe only two. But Becker also had 57 unforced errors to McEnroe’s 28.

Sabatini, regarded as a strong contender in the absence of injured Steffi Graf, had to take an injury timeout while trailing, 3-4, in the second set. She had led the set, 3-0.

Sabatini, who lost to Werdel Witmeyer in their last meeting in Tokyo in 1993, lay face down while a trainer massaged her back for several minutes. But Werdel Witmeyer said she would have won even if Sabatini hadn’t been hurt.

“Everyone’s out there playing with injuries, so you can’t count someone out when they’re hurt,” Werdel Witmeyer said.

Sabatini didn’t blame the loss on her injury, but said it hurt her comeback attempt in the second set.

“I started to feel it at the beginning of the second set,” she said. “It was really painful. After I was treated, it was still there. I don’t know what happened.”

Sabatini, slowed because of back pain for the past week, said she thought about quitting in mid-match.

“But it didn’t feel that bad to stop. I could still hit the balls,” she said.

“It is disappointing. I didn’t expect to lose in the first round, but it happens and I can’t let this bother me.”

Earlier Andre Agassi, with a purple bandanna wrapped around his closely cropped head, and checkered shorts and baggy striped shirt clashing, played like a million bucks in his Australian Open debut, even if he didn’t look it.

He beat qualifier Grant Stafford, 6-2, 6-4, 6-2.

“Being down here is a reflection of my commitment and sacrifices that I feel need to be made in order to maximize whatever years I may have,” Agassi said. “In the past it interfered with my priorities which was to keep a very balanced lifestyle between my professional and my personal life.”

In the final set, Agassi blasted shots past a bewildered Stafford and won by taking the South African’s second serve and depositing it at the back of the court.