INDIANAPOLIS, Aug 15: Pete Sampras was upset by Sweden's Magnus Larsson at the RCA Championships yesterday, snapping the top-ranked player's winning streak at 13 matches.

Larsson, seeded 16th in the tournament and ranked 37th in the world, used a strong serve to eliminate Sampras 7-6 (8-6), 4-6, 7-6 (7-5).

``I knew I needed to serve really well, which I did,'' said Larsson, who had lost four straight matches to Sampras, the No 1 seed. ``Hopefully, this is the beginning of something good.''

Larsson had 18 aces to Sampras' 11 in the 2-hour, 7-minute match. He led 6-0 in the third-set tie-breaker but wasn't shaken when Sampras rallied to 6-5.``When you have beaten him once, you know you can beat him again, especially when he's not on top of his game, like today,'' said Larsson, who last beat Sampras in the 1994 Grand Slam Cup.

Sampras said he had trouble adjusting to the style of ball used at Indianapolis.

The victory sends Larsson into the quarterfinals against No 10 Wayne Ferreira, a player he has beaten three straight times. Ferreira, the 1994 RCA Champion, defeated fellow South African Grant Stafford 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.

In another third-round upset, 11th-ranked and fourth-seeded Thomas Enqvist of Sweden, the 1995 RCA champion, was ousted by unseeded Jiri Novak of the Czech Republic 7-5, 3-6, 6-3.

In a mild upset, No 9 Jonas Bjorkman of Sweden beat No 7 Todd Woodbridge of Australia 6-2, 6-5 to reach the quarter-finals for the tenth time this year and push his 1997 match record to 42-18.

Qualifier Tommy Ho of Houston advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 victory over Jason Stoltenberg of Australia a day after the 60th-ranked Stoltenberg had ousted second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic.

No 5 Carlos Moya defeated Richard Fromberg of Australia 6-2, 6-4. The ninth-ranked Spaniard credited his increasing confidence for the victory.

Sanchez, Pierce ousted

TORONTO: Fifth-Seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario and No 6 Mary Pierce were pounded out of the Du Maurier Open yesterday.

Sanchez Vicario was bounced 6-4, 6-3 by her doubles partner, tenth-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez, while Pierce fell to Italy's Rita Grande 6-2, 6-2.After reaching the Du Maurier final last year, when the tournament was held in Montreal, and after years of flirting with the top ranking in women's tennis, Sanchez Vicario has struggled in 1997. She was ranked 11th in the world this week, the first time since 1989 the Spaniard has been out of the top ten.

Pierce played the waiting game against the 69th-ranked Grande, which, it turned out, prolonged her own agony.

Down 4-2 in the second set, Pierce called time-out and asked to go the washroom. The tactic only delayed the inevitable as Grande wrapped up the victory in just over an hour.

Asked when she realised she was in trouble, Pierce said losing the first set 6-2 was ``definitely'' a sign.

In other matches yesterday, seventh-seeded Conchita Martinez dispatched Indonesia's Yayuk Basuki 6-1, 6-4 and No 3 Amanda Coetzer stopped No 11 Kimberly Po 6-3, 6-3.

Goellner advances

STUTTGART: Germany's Marc Goellner advanced into the Mercedes Cup's second round yesterday when back problems forced American Richey Reneberg to drop out of their match during the third set.

Goellner led 4-6, 7-5, 1-0 when the veteran doubles player gave up at the $1.04 million tournament.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.