Top seeds Stefan Edberg and Boris Becker, both deprived of their biggest weapons, made tennis history Tuesday when both bombed out in the opening round of the French Open.
Edberg, his confidence shattered and his serve ineffective, was brushed aside by Spaniard Sergi Bruguera, 6-4, 6-1, 6-1, and Becker fell to tall Yugoslavian Goran Ivanisevic, 5-7, 6-4, 7-5, 6-2.Edberg's loss marked the first time ever the No. 1 man has lost his opening match at the French Open, and when Becker was wiped out, it was the first time in Grand Slam history the top two seeds were eliminated in the first round.
"He played out of his mind, he was just too good today," Becker said. "He served and hit and hit. No one in this world could have stopped him."
Bruguera, 19, is ranked 46th in the world and Ivanisevic, only 18, is No. 51.
Of the world's top 10 men, no more than five will be in contention for the second round of the French.
"It wasn't my day at all," Edberg said, speaking in the same subdued tone he also uses in victory. "He played well and I didn't know quite what to do. Whatever I did, I didn't do very well."
The last time a top-seeded man lost in the opening round of a Grand Slam was in 1971 at the U.S. Open, when Australian John Newcombe fell to Jan Kodes of Czechoslovakia. Spaniard Manuel Santana was the No. 1 seed at the 1965 French Open when he defaulted in the opening round.
Both Edberg and Becker rely on a serve-and-volley attack, a weapon which is less effective on the slow clay courts of Roland Garros.
Becker, also beaten a few days ago by Jordi Arrese in the Nations Cup, managed to win a set, but then faced increasing difficulty against the left-handed Ivanisevic.
Ivanisevic broke in the first and fifth games of the fourth set before Becker took advantage of two double faults by his rival to break back in the sixth game. Ivanisevic, though, broke right back and then held to end the match.
On this day of grand upsets, when Edberg and Becker were bidding a fond adieu to clay, their least favorite surface, 14-year-old Jennifer Capriati won the first Grand Slam match of her career, beating Sylvie Testrud of France, 6-1, 6-1.
"Usually I'm still asleep at 11 (the time her match started), but I said if I have to get up early to play my first Grand Slam, I'll get up," Capriati said. "I thought this is it, my first Grand Slam match, and I was just so excited."
Four other seeded men won, No. 7 Thomas Muster, No. 8 Andrei Chesnokov and No. 9 Martin Jaite in straight sets, and No. 14 Magnus Gustafsson in five sets.
Among the women, No. 2 seed Monica Seles shut out Katia Piccolini, 6-0, 6-0 and also advancing to the second round were No. 7 Mary Joe Fernandez, No. 10 Natalia Zvereva and No. 16 Laura Gildemeister.