Tennis Roundup : Teen-Agers Upset Becker, Evert

Alberto Mancini of Argentina, who upset second-ranked Mats Wilander Saturday, defeated third-ranked Boris Becker Sunday to win the Monte Carlo Open.

Mancini, 19, battled for more than four hours before stopping the West German and his new-found clay-court game, 7-5, 2-6, 7-6 (7-4), 7-5.

“This year is beginning very good and giving me a lot of confidence for the rest of the year,” said Mancini, who played in only one other final in his pro career, winning that one last year at Bologna, Italy. “To beat Wilander and Becker on center court in Monte Carlo . . . it’s like a dream.”

Mancini and Becker stayed on the baseline, with Becker making only occasional charges to the net because his serve was not in sync.

Mancini won the first set when he broke Becker in the 12th game.

“I didn’t serve great,” Becker said. “When I served for the set twice I could have served better. But he played the important points well. I was playing against a player with a great future.”

In the 84-minute third set, the players dropped their services a total of six times before Mancini won the tiebreaker after wasting two set points in the 12th game.

Mancini came back from a 2-5 deficit in the fourth set, reeling off the last five games. Mancini, whose career earnings were under $155,000, received $122,900 for the victory.

Becker, who was awarded $61,450 for finishing second, was playing in the first clay-court final of his pro career. The last time he reached a final in a clay court tournament was in a junior event in 1984.

“Before, I was able to put one or two good matches together on clay,” Becker said. “Now the big difference is that I put five good matches in a row, and this week was the proof I could do it. I beat four good players and had a chance to beat another who beat Wilander 6-0 and 6-3.”

Fifteen-year-old Monica Seles won a tournament for the first time in her pro career, upsetting top-seeded Chris Evert, 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, in the Virginia Slims of Houston.

Seles said she didn’t believe she could win the match until she took a 5-2 lead in the third set.

“Even in the first set today , I didn’t think I had a chance to win,” Seles said. “In the second set, I loosened up a bit and played better on a few points than Chris.

“That’s when it hit me and I almost let her get away.”

Seles faltered only briefly, losing her serve in the eighth game of the second set when serving for the match. Evert held at love in the ninth game.

Serving for the match again in the 10th game, Seles took a 40-love lead. Evert staved off one match point with a volley winner but netted a drop shot to end it.

Evert, 34, said it was not a disgrace to lose to Seles.

“If you lose to someone who’s not a good player, then you should be concerned,” Evert said. “But she’s a good player.”

Kelly Jones, the former Pepperdine standout ranked 363rd in the world, defeated Amos Mansdorf of Israel, 6-1, 7-5, in the final of the $93,400 Epson Singapore Super tournament at Singapore.

Said Mansdorf: “I was expecting an easy game. But he played well. He played better than me.”

Top-seeded Ramesh Krishnan of India defeated second-seeded Jonathan Canter, 6-1, 6-3, to win the Dunlop Masters tournament at Toyota, Japan.