MARK Petchey of Britain upset an error-prone Michael Chang, the top seed, 7-5, 6-2 in the first round of the US$313,750 Los Angeles Open.
Second-seeded Boris Becker of Germany showed no effects from a four-week lay-off and defeated Grant Stafford of Canada 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the 32-player, hard court tournament.
Third-seeded American Andre Agassi, fresh from winning the Canadian Open last week, eliminated Nicklas Kulti of Sweden 6-2, 6-1 in another first-round match.
Jared Palmer upset fellow American Brad Gilbert, the seventh seed, 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-4 in the only other surprise of the day.
Chang, the runner-up here last year, struggled with his serve and his normally reliable passing shots, while Petchey added to his discomfort by covering the net like a blanket.
Petchey, ranked 89th in the world, captured the only service break of the first set in the 11th game after holding three previous break points against Chang, whose serve wavered between inconsistent and weak the entire match.
Chang, ranked sixth, won his serve only once in four second-set service games as Petchey repeatedly attacked the net and created problems for the American's passing shots.
