TENNIS / AUSTRALIAN OPEN : Graf, Sampras Pull Out; Seles Gets Easy Victory

Three-time Australian Open champion Steffi Graf withdrew from the tournament on Tuesday, citing a viral infection.

The Women’s Tennis Assn. made the announcement hours before Graf was scheduled to play her first-round match against Katja Oeljeklaus.

Graf was affected by a middle-ear infection during the Hopman Cup in Perth 10 days ago.

She won the Australian Open in 1988, 1989 and 1990.

Pete Sampras, sixth-seeded among the men, was forced to withdraw for the second consecutive year because of a sore shoulder that was aggravated last week during a tuneup tournament at Adelaide.

Defending champion Monica Seles, making her first tournament appearance since November, shrugged off a sore neck and defeated Japan’s Akiko Kijimuta in a first-round match on Monday.

Seles rebounded from a first-game service break and needed only 48 minutes to win, 6-2, 6-0. Kijimuta failed to hold any of her seven service games.

Seles, slowed by a neck strain since arriving in Australia a week ago, wore a brace for a day before switching to a scarf for warmth.

“Today was the first day I played without the scarf,” she said. “Maybe just one or two points I was aware of (the injury). But it felt fine.

“I’m not feeling that comfortable with the service because I didn’t hit that many this week. I just wanted to get over the match.”

The two-month layoff helped Seles’ attitude, however.

“I feel fresh,” she said.

Second-seeded Boris Becker of Germany defeated Jan Gunnarsson of Sweden, 6-1, 6-4, 6-2, and seemed surprised when told he had 25 aces.

“That’s good news,” Becker said with a smile. “That’s quite a lot, even for me. I couldn’t have asked for a better match.”

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg, also appearing in a major tournament for the first time after a two-month layoff caused by injuries, was nervous before his match. But he beat doubles partner Jeremy Bates of Britain, 6-4, 6-2, 6-4.

John McEnroe, other than one scary moment when he turned an ankle and fell early in the third set, coasted through the first round with a 6-2, 6-0, 6-1 victory over Broderick Dyke.

McEnroe was leading, 40-15, in the opening game of the third set when his feet suddenly got tangled at the baseline while he tried to reverse direction and scoop up a deep forehand by Dyke.

McEnroe rolled over and lay on the court a moment, holding his left ankle before getting up and testing it gingerly. He asked for a brief injury timeout, then returned to serve as fans applauded him.

It was McEnroe’s first match in the Australian Open since he was ejected from the tournament following a temper tantrum in 1990.

“It was one of those matches where his game played well into mine,” McEnroe said. “I think I did everything well. This is the type of match I like to play.”