MUNICH -- With top 10 players tumbling out in rapid succession from the richest tennis tournament in the world, Boris Becker has squeezed into the quarterfinals of the Grand Slam Cup by outlasting Cedric Pioline.
Becker rolled over the Frenchman in the first set Tuesday but then had to battle hard to win 6-1, 6-7 (2-7), 9-7.
While Becker, ranked No. 4 in the world, advanced to the last eight and made sure of earning at least $250,000, No. 3 Thomas Muster and No. 5 Michael Chang were eliminated.
Muster, the French Open champion, at least went home $350,000 richer -- a $250,000 bonus for winning one of the Grand Slam events of the season, plus $100,000 given to all first-round losers here.
Byron Black, a 40th-ranked Zimbabwean who, like Pioline, qualified only after the withdrawal of injured second-ranked Andre Agassi and 1992 winner Michael Stich, beat Muster 7-6 (7-3), 2-6, 6-1.
Jacco Eltingh, a Dutch doubles specialist who is ranked No. 43, beat Chang 7-6 (12-10), 6-3, with an aggressive game on the fast carpet surface.
The tournament invites 16 players with the best records in the four Grand Slam events in a year -- the Australian, French and U.S. Opens and Wimbledon.
The winner gets $1.625 million.
Top-ranked Pete Sampras, fresh from anchoring the U.S. victory over Russia in the Davis Cup final in Moscow over the weekend, sounded confident before beginning his campaign here Wednesday against fellow American Patrick McEnroe.
In the concluding Davis Cup press conference, Sampras was asked for his immediate plans.
"Make a couple million this week," he said. ()
(For other results, see Scorecard.)
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