TENNIS / THOMAS BONK : Sampras Can Win Open, in a Couple Years

A year ago, Pete Sampras surprised many with a second-round upset of Mats Wilander at the U.S. Open and reached the fourth round before losing.

A year older at 19, Sampras is already in the fourth round and finding expectations a lot higher this time around.

According to Jakob Hlasek, who lost to Sampras in straight sets, Sampras is a threat to win the Open.

“He has the game for it, for sure, for him to win it,” Hlasek said. “But it depends. He’s a very good player, but he can also be very inconsistent. I don’t know if he can put together seven matches.”

Sampras, who meets No. 6-ranked Thomas Muster today, said that though he might have improved as a player and matured, he will not win the Open.

“Maybe in a couple of years,” Sampras said. “But I don’t think it’s winnable right now.

“I’m 19. Let’s be realistic, I’m not ready to win a Grand Slam. I don’t play well when there’s a lot of pressure. You see me out on the court, I’m loose. I hit a lot of flashy shots.”

Sampras also said he tends to miss a lot of them, something that contemporary Michael Chang avoids in playing a conservative style not at all like Sampras. If Sampras is not ready at 19 to win a Grand Slam event, Chang was certainly prepared to win one at 17--the French Open last year.

“The difference is in the style of my game,” Sampras said. “Chang stays back, he’s very consistent, he doesn’t make errors. I’m up and down.”

Sampras, who has won tournaments in Philadelphia and Manchester, England, this year, is ranked No. 12. But his goal is not necessarily to reach the top 10 this year.

“I want to play in the ATP finals,” Sampras said smiling. “The top eight play in that.”

Best quote: From Ivan Lendl, asked why he came to the net in his third-round match against Alex Antonitsch: “I was just checking to see if it was still there.”

Clothes hoarse: There was quite a contrast when Andre Agassi played Franco Davin of Argentina Saturday. Davin was dressed in white. Agassi claimed the rest of the colors.

For the U.S. Open, Agassi unveiled a new tennis wardrobe that seems as controversial as Agassi.

“My first reaction is he can’t wear that black shirt in the day because the sun would burn a hole in his back,” Martina Navratilova said.

“You don’t want to know my second reaction.”

Oh, yes, we do.

“Yuck,” Navratilova said.

The cornerstone of Agassi’s clothes are the lycra liners of the black shorts. The liners are a day-glo, yellow-green color called “hot lime” (not to be confused with the old pink liners of “hot lava”) or they are sort of blue, called “neo-teal.”

The black-backed shirt has sleeves of either hot lime or neo-teal, but for his match against Davin, Agassi wore a black-sleeved shirt with piano-key-like graphics that matched the ones on the liners of his shorts and on his shoes.

Agassi’s choice of clothes had led to a call from Philippe Chatrier, president of the French Tennis Federation, at the French Open for such outfits to be banned from Grand Slam events.

Agassi responded by calling Chatrier a “bozo.”

Stay away from her: Barbara Travers, who is working for the United States Tennis Federation in the media relations department, had a bad first week at the U.S. Open.

On one day, she was stuck in an elevator and had to be lifted through the hole in the roof to escape.

The next day, Travers was riding in a bus that was struck broadside by a car.

The day after that, Travers dropped a chair on her foot.

“This won’t help me get any dates,” Travers said.

Alka Seltzer update: According to Racket Magazine, the 200,000 ice cream cups, cones and bars that will be consumed during the Open could provide daily snacks for a kindergarten class for 50 years.

In all, tennis fans will eat 20,000 tacos, 25,000 roast beef sandwiches, 30,000 pasta salads, 60,000 orders of nachos, 100,000 hamburgers and 250,000 hot dogs.

Tennis Notes

Andre Agassi will play host to a tennis clinic for disadvantaged children 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Sept. 15 at the Forum. The children are part of the United States Tennis Assn./National Junior Tennis League, a non-profit public recreational tennis program for disadvantaged children. Agassi and Andres Gomez meet in the Canon Challenge exhibition at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15 in the Forum. On the undercard, Ivan Baron of Plantation, Fla., plays Michael Joyce of St. Monica’s High. Baron is No. 1 in the boys’ 18 age group and Joyce is No. 2. . . . Chris Evert, who was elected president of the Women’s Tennis Assn., last week, announced a Clairol/WTA scholarship for young woman. Recipients will be chosen by a panel that includes Tracy Austin, Zina Garrison and Pam Shriver. Clairol will donate 10 $1,500 grants. . . . Area teams will compete in the USTA/Volvo Tennis League national championships in October. Aeroject of San Gabriel Valley in the men’s 3.0; Lindborg RC of Orange County in the men’s 3.5; Hughes Aircraft of Orange County in the men’s 4.0; JPL of San Gabriel Valley in the men’s 4.5; Industry Hills of San Gabriel Valley in the women’s 2.5; Los Cab Red and White of Orange County in the women’s 3.0; JPL of San Gabriel Valley in the women’s 3.5; Net Gals of San Fernando Valley in the women’s 4.0 and West End TNRC of South Bay in the women’s 5.0.