TENNIS ROUNDUP : Lendl Plagued by Errors in Loss to No. 53 Markus

Gabriel Markus, an unseeded 22-year-old from Argentina, upset Ivan Lendl, the world’s No. 10 player, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6 (7-3), Wednesday in the first round of the City of Madrid Grand Prize tennis tournament.

Markus, ranked 53rd in the world, raised his fist in glee after his victory.

Lendl’s play suffered from repeated unforced errors, as Markus sent him from corner to corner with solid groundstrokes on the clay surface.

“This is a victory I’ve thought about a lot, because even if Ivan Lendl is losing games, he’s a super difficult player to beat,” Markus said.

Lendl inherited the tournament’s top-seeded spot after Boris Becker withdrew Tuesday because of a back injury.

Markus’ victory left Alberto Mancini of Argentina, ranked No. 14, the highest-ranked player in the singles bracket.

“He wasn’t my idol,” Markus said of Lendl, “but he was the player I admired the most.”

Throughout the third set, Lendl’s play was inconsistent, his strong service games alternating with moments of despair as easy shots went wide, long or into the net. Up 6-5, Lendl lost his serve without taking a point, before Markus won the tiebreaker.

“During the first set I was nervous,” said Markus, who elicited occasional cries of “Ole!” from the Spanish crowd. “Luckily I left my nerves behind.”

In other matches, eighth-seeded Jordi Arrese of Spain defeated Thierry Champion of France, 6-2, 4-6, 6-1; No. 5 Sergi Bruguera of Spain defeated Frederic Fontang of France, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, and Marc Rosset of Switzerland defeated Andres Gomez of Ecuador, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 7-6 (7-4).

In a duel of brothers, the fourth-seeded doubles team of Patrick McEnroe and Patrick Galbraith defeated John McEnroe and Javier Frana of Spain, 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), in the quarterfinals.

South Africa returned to Davis Cup competition for the first time since 1978, defeating Cameroon in two singles matches at the start of a six-nation qualifying event at Tunis, Tunisia.

Christo Van Rensberg defeated Lionel Kemajou, 6-0, 6-0, and Wayne Ferreira defeated Angelin Muogo, 7-5, 6-2.

Unseeded Berndt Karbacher of Germany upset sixth-seeded Aaron Krickstein, 6-2, 6-4, in a second-round match at the ATP clay-court tournament at Munich.

In another surprise, unseeded Markus Naewie of Germany defeated two-time Munich champion Guillermo Perez-Roldan of Argentina, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6).