clarinews@clarinet.com (01/18/90)
(MELBOURNE, Australia) (UPI) Wimbledon champion Boris Becker took the wraps off his power game and his temper Thursday, struggling past tenacious American Scott Davis in the second round of the three-Million dollar Australian Open. Becker, seeded second, yelled at himself and the umpire, snatched at tennis balls and dropped his racquet several times before overpowering the resident of Largo, Fla., 6-3, 7-6 (6-4), 4-6, 6-2. In other matches, three-time Australian champion Mats Wilander showed a few glimpses of regained confidence. The 25-year-old Swede pushed his way into the third round with a 6-2, 7-5, 6-3 win over Canadian Martin Wostenhol. His compatriot, third-seeded Stefan Edberg, downed West German Patrick Kuehnen 6-2, 6-2, 6-4. Seeded Soviets fared less well, Natalia Zvereva and Andrei Chesnokov both losing in straight sets to unseeded players. Sandra Wasserman of Belgium outran a fatigued Zvereva to upset the 10th seed 7-5, 6-1 in an 84-minute baseline duel. Zvereva is the first of the 16 seeds to be knocked out of the women's draw. Australian left-hander Mark Woodforde trounced men's seventh-seeded Chesnokov 6-3, 6-2, 7-5 in the center-court opener. Seventh-seeded Hana Mandlikova met resistance from Cammy MacGregor, of La Quinta, Calif., before controlling the second set with deep volleys and better placements to run out a 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 victory. Becker needed two hours, 44 minutes to move into the third round. Davis, ranked 70th in the world, pushed Becker to the limit with a fine serve-and-volley technique backed by a light touch from midcourt. The West German's best performance in the Australian Open came in 1984, when he lost in the quarterfinals to American Ben Testerman. Last year, Sweden's Jonas Svensson knocked him out in straight sets in the round of 16. Becker said he had trouble holding his concentration during the match. iiIt was close in the third set, too, and I kept thinking about that loss to Svensson last year,'' he said. iiI was concerned with the effects of being No. 1 last year after I won Wimbledon and the United States Open and it was not so easy.'' Wilander, coming off a wretched year, was cautiously optimistic about his victory. iiWell, I have won as many matches as anyone, I suppose,'' he said. iiI suppose you could say I was in contention, I am getting more confident, I trust my baseline game now and I am not rushing. iiBasically all I want to do is to play good again,'' he said. The amiable Swede was the top-ranked tennis player in the world following his 1988 victories in the Australian, French and U.S. Open championships. But he was pushed aside by Ivan Lendl when he fell into a drastic slump. Wilander, holder of seven Grand Slam titles, failed to win one singles title in 1989. Today he is ranked 15. He says he wants to get back in the top six. iiI would love to win a Grand Slam again to prove to myself I am not finished,'' he said. Zvereva, winner of the Queensland and New South Wales singles titles earlier this month, faded badly in a match highlighted by long baseline rallies. She has played 12 tough matches in 18 days in winning her back-to-back titles. iiI am almost relieved to be out of the Open,'' Zvereva said. iiI didn't feel that confident before the match. Physically I was all right; maybe it was my mental attitude that let me down.'' campbell/upi