TENNIS ROUNDUP : Sampras Wins Power Struggle in Frankfurt

Pete Sampras defeated Goran Ivanisevic, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2, on Wednesday in a battle of power hitters on the second day of the ATP Tour World Championships at Frankfurt, Germany.

Although Sampras is ranked No. 1 in the world, he had lost six of seven previous matches against Ivanisevic.

“Goran didn’t do quite as well as he usually does,” Sampras said. “He didn’t serve as well as he usually does.”

In another second-round match in the round-robin event, Michael Stich of Germany outlasted Michael Chang, 4-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.

Second-ranked Jim Courier, who lost to Chang on Tuesday, lost to Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine, 6-3, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4).

Courier had three match points in the ninth game of the third set, but couldn’t close it out. He double faulted on the first match point.

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Top-seeded Steffi Graf of Germany defeated Natalia Zvereva of Belarus, 6-2, 6-4, to win her opening-round match at the season-ending $3.5-million Virginia Slims Championships at New York.

Graf, who had a 44-match winning streak ended Sunday, is 13-0 against Zvereva and has lost only two sets against her.

Fourth-seeded Conchita Martinez also won her first-round match, beating Manuela Maleeva-Fragniere of Switzerland, 7-5, 6-2.