TENNIS ROUNDUP : Courier Is Upset in Japan

Jim Courier got his game back on track in time to survive a second-round match in the Japan Open at Tokyo. He wasn’t as fortunate in today’s third round.

The world’s top-ranked player, pushed to the limit by the Czech Republic’s Martin Damm on Wednesday, was beaten, 6-4, 6-2, by Jonathan Stark, who is ranked 77th.

Stark had 11 aces in dominating Courier, breaking service in the third game of the first set and in the fifth and seventh games of the second.

On Wednesday, Courier had to come back from a service break and a lapse in the first-set tiebreaker to defeat Damm, 7-6 (8-6), 6-4.

Michael Chang, fresh from winning the Salem Open in Osaka, was eliminated by Australian Todd Woodbridge, 6-3, 3-6, 7-6 (7-5), in a match that went nearly three hours.

Andre Agassi and Ivan Lendl scored straight-set victories in the second round of the Conte de Godo tournament at Barcelona.

The top-seeded Agassi defeated Alex Corretja of Spain, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 2 Lendl defeated German Markus Naewie, 6-3, 6-3.

Two other seeded players advanced. No. 7 Sergi Bruguera of Spain defeated Jordi Burillo of Spain, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2, and No. 8 Karel Novacek of the Czech Republic ousted Sweden’s Jonas Svensson, 6-4, 5-7, 6-2.

Shaun Stafford advanced to the quarterfinals of the Bausch and Lomb Championships with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-3 victory over seventh-seeded Lori McNeil at Amelia Island, Fla.

Stafford, the 1988 NCAA singles champion, advanced along with fellow Floridians Jennifer Capriati and Kathy Rinaldi.

The victory pits Stafford against top-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of Spain, a 6-2, 6-4 winner over Lindsay Davenport.

Capriati avenged a defeat of last month by defeating Tatiana Ignatieva, 6-1, 6-0, and Rinaldi eliminated Christina Singer, 6-2, 6-2.