Stefan Edberg became the third former champion knocked out in the early rounds of Wimbledon, losing in five sets today to 113th-ranked Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark.
Defending women's champion Steffi Graf and 1991 men's champion Michael Stich, the No. 2 seed, both lost in the first round.Edberg won the first set in a tiebreaker before darkness halted play late Wednesday, and scraped through another tiebreaker in the second set today. But he could produce only two aces to 14 for Carlsen, and the Dane rallied strongly for a 6-7 (8-6), 6-7 (8-6), 6-2, 6-4, 6-4 victory, the biggest of his career.
It was the worst Wimbledon showing for the third-seeded Edberg since another second-round loss in 1984. He won the title in 1988 and 1990 and had reached at least the quarterfinals every year since 1987.
Edberg went down bravely, saving five match points to hold the ninth game of the last set before Carlsen served out the match at love.
The 28-year-old Edberg won two tournaments early this year, and reached the semifinals of the Australian Open, but has struggled recently. In the French Open, he lost in straight sets in the first round.
Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and Jana Novotna, two of the favorites after Graf's ouster, easily won second-round matches today.
Sanchez Vicario, the No. 2 seed, defeated 143rd-ranked Maria Jose Gaidano of Argentina 6-2, 6-1. Novotna, the No. 5 seed and tearful loser to Graf in last year's final, routed Wiltrud Probst of Germany, also by 6-2, 6-1.
In men's second-round play, ninth-seeded Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine rallied to defeat Slava Dosedol of the Czech Republic 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, 6-4, and 15th-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov, a fast-rising Russian star playing in his first Wimbledon, demolished Germany's Karsten Braasch 6-1, 6-1, 6-3.
Oddsmakers made Sanchez Vicario as a 3-1 favorite to win the title after Graf's first-round defeat Tuesday by Lori McNeil. The Spaniard won her second French Open crown earlier this month, but has never advanced past the quarterfinals in Wimbledon.
"I'm looking forward to getting past that step," she said. `My game is improving all the time... I always enjoy playing on grass, but this year maybe more. I can do more things."
Three other women's seed advanced. No. 10 Gabriela Sabatini beat Jenny Byrne of Australia 6-2, 6-3; No. 13 Zina Garrison-Jackson beat Argentina's Mercedes Paz 7-5, 6-0, and Helena Sukova of the Czech Republic, designated No. 17 seed after the withdrawal of seventh-seeded Mary Pierce, beat Argentine Patricia Tarabini 6-4, 6-2.
In a mild upset, Yayuk Basuki of Indonesia beat 16th-seeded Magdelena Maleeva of Bulgaria 5-7, 7-6 (7-3), 6-4. Basuki has reached the fourth round here each of the past two years.