TENNIS ROUNDUP : Connors Ends Drought; Sampras Loses

Jimmy Connors is back, Pete Sampras is gone and Andre Agassi and Boris Becker are still around--barely.

Connors won for the first time since October, 1989, when he beat Germany’s Udo Riglewski, 6-4, 6-4, in a first-round match Sunday in the International Players Championships.

Sampras, who had played in only two tournaments previously this year because of injuries, lost to Rodolphe Gilbert of France, 6-4, 6-2. Gilbert, ranked No. 132, made the 96-man field as a replacement for an injured player.

Agassi and Becker survived scares in their opening matches. Agassi, ranked fourth, overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third set to edge 18-year-old Fabrice Santoro of France, 7-6 (7-1), 4-6, 7-5.

Becker, facing qualifier Steve DeVries, lost the first set, fell behind 5-2 in the third set and trailed 4-1 in a third-set tiebreaker. But he rallied to win, 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (7-5).

Connors, 38, took a 3-0 lead in the second set against Riglewski, ranked No. 98. Then he lost four consecutive games before rallying for the victory, his first since beating Gilad Bloom in Tel Aviv on Oct. 21, 1989.

In women’s play, eighth-seeded Natalia Zvereva of the Soviet Union lost her opening match to qualifier Ginger Helgeson of San Diego, 6-2, 6-3.

In the second round, fourth-seeded Mary Joe Fernandez defeated Audra Keller, 6-3, 6-2, and Claudia Porwik of Germany beat Stephanie Rehe, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1.

Third-seeded Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina beat Chanda Rubin, 6-1, 6-3, and Pam Shriver upset Laura Gildemeister, 6-3, 6-2.