Seles Makes Quick Work of Hack in Australia : Tennis: The No. 2 seed overwhelms the German in 37 minutes. Gilbert grinds out a victory over his bitter rival, Wheaton.

Monica Seles offered sympathy but no mercy to a stunned opponent, and Brad Gilbert extended a cool handshake to a bitter foe.

Seles and Gilbert left center court with distinctly different victories today and with opposite feelings about the players they beat in the first round of the Australian Open.

In 37 minutes of target practice, Seles, the women’s No. 2 seed, riddled Sabine Hack of Germany, 6-0, 6-0, then almost apologized for playing so rough.

“It’s tough losing love and love but I just can’t give a player a game. I just really have to go for it,” said Seles, who recalled once losing, 6-0, 6-0, sometime in the distant past.

Seles played and spoke with renewed vigor after taking a week off to recover from “physical and mental exhaustion.” The 17-year-old said she was worn out from her nonstop schedule of tournaments and exhibitions and gladly paid a $10,000 fine to pull out of a tuneup event in Sydney.

Instead, she refreshed herself by watching her idol, Janet Evans, capture gold in the World Swimming Championships.

“I was trying to forget (tennis) for a while,” Seles said. “I was too tired. I got my motivation back from the swimming. I wanted to change to swimming. It was a great week for my competitiveness.”

A chilly atmosphere pervaded the match between Gilbert, the men’s No. 7 seed, and fellow American David Wheaton, and it had nothing to do with the brisk, breezy weather. It was a carry-over of the shoves and angry words they exchanged in a five-set semifinal duel worth at least $1 million to the winner and $500,000 to the loser at the $6-million Grand Slam Cup in Germany last December.

At that tournament, Gilbert wound up charging Wheaton and pushing him with his arms. Wheaton shoved back with his chest and the two had to be separated by officials. Each player was fined $5,000.

Gilbert won that match, extending his record to 4-0 against Wheaton, then lost in the final to Pete Sampras.

When the draw for the Australian Open pitted Gilbert and Wheaton against each other in the first round, officials and fans braced for another testy grudge match.

But instead of sparks, there was a muted hostility punctuated by frequent complaints by both players about line calls.

After three hours, 25 minutes, Gilbert, won again, 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5). Quicker, sharper on his serve, more varied in his range of shots, Gilbert blunted Wheaton’s greater power with a soft touch on returns, and won the big points, including the final three points in the fourth-set tiebreaker.

Gilbert, 29, muttered, shook his head and limped around the court as he always does. Wheaton, sporting his favorite American flag bandanna, quietly fumed over Gilbert’s histrionics.

As they left the court, Gilbert offered his hand but never looked at Wheaton as they shook briefly across the net.

Asked about his relationship with Wheaton, Gilbert dryly responded, “There is no relationship. On the tennis court your racket has to speak for itself. I’m glad there were no incidents.”

Wheaton voiced no anger, but left no doubt about his feelings regarding Gilbert.

“I don’t like him,” Wheaton said. “He does a lot of stuff on court. He’s always moaning. A lot of people don’t get on with him. I just try to act like he’s not there.”

In another match today, Jimmy Arias of the United States overcame leg cramps and a 2-0 deficit in the final set to upset ninth-seeded Andrei Chesnokov, last year’s Italian Open champion, 6-0, 6-3, 4-6, 2-6, 6-4.

Earlier results, Section C, Page 2.