Edberg, Becker Win 1st Matches at Paris Open

PARIS —  Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker won their opening matches in the $2-million Paris Open today.

Edberg, the world’s top-ranked player and seeded No. 1 here, defeated Andrei Cherkasov 6-2, 6-3. Becker beat American Richey Reneberg for the fourth time in five weeks, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.

In the last four tournaments on the ATP tour--Sydney, Tokyo, Stockholm and Paris--Becker won in straight sets over Reneberg.

This time, Becker had put himself one set behind when a double fault and a sloppy backhand in the ninth game gave Reneberg the service break.,

In the second set, Becker turned up his game a notch and broke Reneberg on his way to a 6-3 win.

The third set was anticlimactic with Becker winning five of the last six games to end the 1-hour, 58-minute match.

The tournament has attracted 38 of the top 43 players in the world.

Two seeds, more accustomed to clay courts than the fast indoor surfaces, lost.

French qualifier Guillaume Raoux, ranked 134th in the world, downed 13th-seeded Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina 7-5, 6-4, and American Jim Courier crushed 16th-seeded Juan Aguilera of Spain 6-1, 6-2.

Pete Sampras, the 19-year-old U.S. Open champion, survived two tiebreaks before edging Germany’s Carl Uwe Steeb 7-6 (10-8), 3-6, 7-6 (7-2).

Late Tuesday evening, Michael Chang of the United States was the first seed to fall as he lost to Marc Rosset, a 19-year-old from Switzerland, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.