Sampras, Davenport Struggle to Advance at Open

M E L B O U R N E, Australia, Jan. 17, 2001 -- This wasn’t Pete Sampras’ usual wayof winning.

Sampras, who has used a formidable serve-and-volley game to win13 Grand Slam tournaments, was broken six times before beatingBohdan Ulihrach 7-6 (5), 7-6 (5), 4-6, 7-5 today.

The No. 3 seed advanced to the Australian Open's third rounddespite 12 double faults and 46 unforced errors in a three-hourmatch.

Agassi Breezes by Goldstein

Sampras missed on his first match point in the final set's 10thgame after some desperate retrieving by Ulihrach.

He had to overcome two double faults to hold for 6-5. Then, onhis second match point, he brought the Czech player up to the netwith a short volley and then passed him with a backhand volley downthe line.

Sampras gave credit to Ulihrach for putting pressure on hisservice game and pushing him to double fault by trying for toomuch.

"I felt like I was serving well, but he was returning andpassing me great," said Sampras, who converted six of nine breakpoints, matching Ulihrach's figure.

"I also felt like I was playing well enough from the back ofthe court to break him."

In contrast, defending champion Andre Agassi needed just onehour, 17 minutes to sweep fellow American Paul Goldstein 6-1, 6-3,6-1.

"I really believe that if I continue striking the ball andmoving like I am and concentrating like I am, I'll do all right,"said Agassi, the No. 6 seed.

Davenport Survives, Martinez Falls

Women's defending champion Lindsay Davenport, meanwhile, neededher serve to pull her through a frustrating match with a batch ofmissed chances in the second set. She won 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 againstGerman qualifier Greta Arn.

Spain's fortunes suffered a big blow with losses by its only twoseeds — women's No. 5 Conchita Martinez and men's No. 9 Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Martinez, women's runner-up in 1998 and a semifinalist lastyear, fell 5-7, 6-3, 8-6 in the second round to Switzerland'sEmmanuelle Gagliardi, ranked 93rd on the women's tour.

Ferrero, vexed by the scrambling and spinning of Australia'sAndrew Ilie, lost 3-6, 6-2, 6-1, 1-6, 6-2.

Safin, Rafter Win Tough Matches

Sampras wasn't the only men's seed who found progress difficult.

No. 2 Marat Safin, the U.S. Open champion, overcame initialfloundering and beat Romania's Andrei Pavel 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (5).

"I didn't know what to do, where to return, what I had to do. … He was playing great tennis," Safin said. "Finally I found mygame in the second and third sets."

No. 12 Patrick Rafter, a two-time U.S. Open winner, finallyovercame Russian qualifier Nikolay Davydenko 6-4, 2-6, 6-3, 7-6(4). He failed to serve out the match at 5-4 in the fourth set, butreached match point in the tiebreaker with a drop shot and wonthree points later with a tough serve.

"I never hit the ball well from the word go," Rafter said."He sort of kept me on the back foot a lot. … I definitely sawdefeat there at some stages."

Rafter said he needed a quality workout ahead of his next matchFriday, but added, "I did what I had to do today, so that was agood thing."

No. 13 Cedric Pioline struggled through some rough patchesbefore beating Czech player Slava Dosedel 7-6 (6), 1-6, 6-4, 6-4.

Ferrero, the hero of Spain's victory over Australia for theDavis Cup last month, appeared to be back on track when he tookadvantage of errors by Ilie and won the fourth set easily.

But Ilie, who finished last year at 55th, found his touch againin the final set. He broke Ferrero at love for a 3-2 lead, scoringhis last two points with forehands down the line. He then saved twobreak points with service aces, and lost only three points in thefinal two games.

Ilie, who had watched his team's Davis Cup loss on television,said, "I found it very disappointing that I couldn't be there andsupport the guys. I just wanted to do my bit today."

Advancing was easier for No. 8 Tim Henman, a 6-1, 7-6 (3), 7-6(7) winner over Ecuador's Nicolas Lapentti, and No. 14 DominikHrbaty, who won 6-3, 6-4, 6-2 against France's Francisco Clavet.

Seles, Kournikova Have Little Trouble

Davenport gave herself a grade of 5 out of 10 for the day'smatch.

"I was just getting so frustrated and just fed up with the wayI was playing. In a Grand Slam, fortunately you have two weeks totry to get better and better."

She also needed three sets in the first round, against a tougheropponent — Wimbledon semifinalist Jelena Dokic.

Meanwhile, No. 4 Monica Seles, No. 8 Anna Kournikova, No. 12Jennifer Capriati, No. 14 Sandrine Testud and No. 15 Kim Clijstersadvanced to the third round with little trouble. In the firstround, only No. 11 Chanda Rubin went out.

Testud next faces 18-year-old Belgian Justine Henin, whoimproved to 12-0 this year by beating France's Sarah Pitkowski 6-3,6-2.

Seles beat Switzerland's Miroslava Vavrinec 6-2, 6-3, Kournikovabeat Hungary's Rita Kuti Kis 6-3, 6-4, Capriati defeated Dutchplayer Miriam Oremans 6-0, 6-2, Testud won when China's Yi Jingqianretired with a back injury when Testud was leading 6-4, 5-2, andClijsters beat Russia's Alina Jidkova 6-3, 7-6 (5).