MUNICH, West Germany -- West German Peter Elter ousted American southpaw Bruce Manson from the $300,000 WCT tournament Tuesday with a 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 victory.
Elter, who had to change his serving style because of a painful pulled stomach muscle, still managed to gain the second round, where he may meet Czecholsovak Ivan Lendl.
Lendl, due to play American Mark Dickson in his first round match, is now the favorite to win the competition after the withdrawal of John McEnroe due to a shoulder injury sustained while playing Davis Cup tennis for the United States against Argentina.
Elter's victory followed the narrow defeat of a virtually unknown 19-year-old West German player, Jaromir Becka, who took a set from American Vitas Gerulaitis and forced him to two tie-break sets before losing, 1-6, 7-6, 7-6, in a first round match late Monday.
'It was very close,' said Gerulaitis who, as the No. 3 seed before McEnroe's withdrawal, now is Lendl's main challenger.
Becka, who was born in Prague but now lives in Munich, said he was disappointed that, after winning the first set, his nerves failed him in the crucial minutes of the marathon 2 hour match and he dropped the other two sets in tie-breakers.
In another first round match Tuesday, South African Freddie Sauer beat Nigerian Nduka Odizor, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.
Poland's Wojtek Fibak, number four in the seeding list but now moved up to three, secured a second round place with a 6-1, 6-7, 7-5 win against New Zealander Chris Lewis late Monday while Tomas Smid of Czechoslovakia beat American Eric Fromm, 6-2, 6-4.
