TENNIS ROUNDUP : After Long Wait, Becker Makes Short Work of Pate

Top-seeded Boris Becker spent more time waiting than he did playing, defeating David Pate, 6-3, 6-2, Wednesday in a rain-delayed second-round match in the U.S. Hardcourts tournament at Indianapolis.

“I was just outclassed,” said Pate, ranked 115th on the pro tour and matched with the world’s top-ranked player.

The match took 1 hour 15 minutes but started late and was interrupted after three games for 2 hours 37 minutes.

In other matches, sixth-seeded David Wheaton beat Aaron Krickstein, 6-4, 7-5, and No. 10 Alexander Volkov of the Soviet Union defeated Shuzo Matsuoka of Japan, 7-6 (7-5), 6-2.

Becker, who has won the tournament two of the past three years, was leading, 2-1, when play was halted. Pate held in the first game after play resumed, but was broken in the sixth game and Becker quickly took a 5-2 lead on his way to winning the set.

“Somehow I have had a good experience with rain delays,” Becker said. “Most of the time it brought me luck and I hoped it would be the same case this time. Right away I had two break points and so I started right away good.

“I keep trying to focus on the next point. If I play on my serve, I always have a chance, even if it’s love-40.”

Becker lost only four points on his serve in the second set, which lasted 25 minutes. But the three-time Wimbledon champion wasn’t satisfied.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden defeated MaliVai Washington, 6-4, 6-4, in the Volvo International at New Haven, Conn.

In other matches, second-seeded Ivan Lendl beat Arnaud Boetsch, France, 6-2, 6-2; Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands upset eighth-seeded Andrei Chesnokov of the Soviet Union, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-5; seventh-seeded Jonas Svensson of Sweden beat Mark Kaplan of South Africa, 6-4, 6-3; defending champion and ninth-seeded Derrick Rostagno ousted Alex O’Brien; No. 10 Michael Chang downed Amos Mansdorf of Israel, 7-5, 6-2, and No. 11 Petr Korda of Czechoslovakia defeated Javier Frana of Argentina, 7-6 (7-0), 6-3.

No. 15 Richard Krajicek of the Netherlands defeated Gilad Bloom of Israel, 7-5, 6-3; No. 16 Marc Rosset of Switzerland eliminated Olivier Delaitre of France, 6-3; 6-1, No. 13 Omar Camporese of Italy defeated Luis Herrera of Mexico, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2), and Fernando Roese of Brazil overcame Bryan Shelton, 7-5, 2-6, 6-4.

Sixth-seeded Richey Reneberg advanced when Paul Annacone withdrew because of an injury.