Krickstein Has a Good Racket and He Uses It to Upset Edberg : Tennis: Two sets down to the two-time Australian Open champion, he fights back to score another implausible victory.

Magic is where you find it. In a top hat, up a sleeve, or, for Aaron Krickstein, in the back of a closet.

The 27-year-old conjurer of umpteen career comebacks launched yet another one Monday evening, rallying from two sets down to defeat Stefan Edberg, the Australian Open’s sixth seed.

Although it is unwise ever to write off Krickstein, few would have given him a chance to overtake Edberg, who has won here twice and been runner-up three times.

Krickstein dusted off his old rackets, retrieved from a closet at home, and wore down Edberg in a match that lasted 3 hours and 43 minutes. The score could not have been much closer: 6-7 (8-6), 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

It was the ninth time in his career that Krickstein has come back to win after being down two sets. Tennis record keepers can find no other player, save the resilient Michael Chang, who is even close to such a record.

Krickstein’s tennis career has undergone several incarnations: Teen-aged sensation, oft-injured journeyman, newly fit veteran. The sole constant has been his tennis racket, the same make and style he has been using for eight years.

When his racket company stopped manufacturing his favorite rackets, Krickstein began to horde his used ones. In particular, he saved the rackets that had served him so well at the U.S. Open in 1988 and ’89.

“I played my best tennis in those years,” Krickstein said. “They kind of got old and they stopped making the rackets, so I was kind of fooling around with different rackets for the last four years. But I figured I don’t have much time left, so even though the rackets are pretty old, I though I’d give them another shot.”

They served him well. Krickstein has varied his game little in 12 years. In an era of power tennis, Krickstein is a wily baseliner who uses placement and angles to great advantage.

Edberg was able to neutralize Krickstein in the first two sets with his domination at net, but Krickstein began to find a way to squeeze passing shots past the Swede as the match progressed.

Frustration was etched on Edberg’s face as, in spite of his own excellent play, he found himself slipping.

Edberg served for the match at 5-3 in the fourth set. With the score at deuce, Krickstein sent up a lob that Edberg, and many other observers, thought was long. The ball was called in. Had it gone the other way, Edberg would have been serving for match point.

The usually placid Edberg came close to losing his temper over the call. To him, the ball was out.

“I’m 300% sure,” he said. “The ball is out, clearly. But there’s not logic in it. The guy is sitting in sunglasses and the umpire is too afraid to overrule. It’s kind of frustrating because it would have given me match point.”

The other upset came when Angelica Gavaldon of Mexico defeated third-seeded Jan Novotna, 7-5, 6-0. Novotna was hapless, spraying shots all over the court, resulting in 44 unforced errors.

Gavaldon, who lives in Coronado, left the tour in 1990 for several months because, she said, of a bad attitude.

“I didn’t pick up a racket for six months,” she said. “I was doing well, but I think I was very immature and I was putting too much pressure on myself. If I didn’t win, I would have a bad attitude. But the time off has been really good for me because it made me mature and commit myself to tennis.”

Monday night’s premier match was hyped as the battle of the teen idols. Andre Agassi’s straight set dismissal of Patrick Rafter of Australia, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0, made a mockery of the “battle” theme.

Agassi dissected Rafter’s game and, in particular, exploited a weak forehand. Rafter had 29 unforced errors to Agassi’s three and only two winners off his forehand. The match took 86 minutes and Agassi still has not lost a set here.

Rafter, 22, was the last Australian in the tournament and carried the hopes of his nation into the packed center court for the night’s featured match. To his credit, Rafter had few pretensions after the match.

“He really shows up your weaknesses,” he said. “I felt like I had to keep coming to the net because my ground strokes were extremely ordinary. He just makes you look very silly out there.”

In today’s afternoon match, Chang, the No. 5 seed, defeated Andrei Medvedev of the Ukraine, 7-6 (9-7), 7-5, 6-3.

Medvedev fell during the first set and injured his left wrist. Medvedev, who is right-handed, said his wrist was numb the entire match.

Chang also needed a trainer’s attention. His legs were massaged in the first set, but Chang would only say he experienced some stiffness.

“Let’s leave it at that,” he said. “Jim (Courier) and Pete (Sampras, his potential opponents in the next round) both read newspapers.”