Sampras and Pierce Go Separate Ways : Tennis: Second-seeded man avenges last year’s loss to Peru’s Yzaga, but sixth-seeded woman is knocked out by Frazier.

Friday at the U.S. Open, early autumn in New York. A blustery wind swirled around the National Tennis Center carrying bits of memories and dashed dreams. Two players revisited defining moments in their tennis lives. One avenged a hurtful loss; one lost sight of a gleaming moment.

Pete Sampras was the redeemed one. His 6-1, 6-4, 6-3 second-round victory over Jaime Yzaga bore no resemblance to the agonizing match in which the Peruvian sent Sampras out of last year’s tournament. That five-set match revealed that a heart beat beneath Sampras’ bony chest and it was the heart of a champion, even in defeat.

Sixth-seeded Mary Pierce was upset by No. 21 Amy Frazier, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6), a loss that puts even more unhappy distance between Pierce and the memory of her greatest victory, at the Australian Open seven months ago. The promise of achievement that title seemed to suggest is now sadly broken.

Sampras’ promise is in full flower. Before the match against Yzaga in the round of 16 last year, Sampras had been viewed as a remote, passionless athlete with superb but icy skills. There were hints that Sampras never gave a full effort, so easily did his talent come to him. The 3-hour 38-minute match against Yzaga revealed a gutty Sampras who pushed himself past the point of exhaustion.

The rematch with Yzaga offered a chance to erase a memorable loss at a Grand Slam event.

“I was looking forward to it,” Sampras said. “What happened last year didn’t sit well with me. Tonight I was really pumped up. Once I saw the draw, I wanted to get a little revenge. It wasn’t like I was trying to send any message. The bottom line is I wanted to win.”

Sampras emphasized his current dominance with 16 aces and winners on 93% of his first serves. The match took only 1 hour 32 minutes, and although Yzaga tried to probe Sampras’ game for weakness, he found few.

Pierce’s weaknesses were easy to find. The Frenchwoman had 46 unforced errors, which was indicative of her season.

Pierce began the year so well, beating Arantxa Sanchez Vicario to win the Australian Open in January. To many, Pierce’s mastery at Melbourne appeared to be an indicator that the 20-year-old had begun to tap into her vast potential.

Her moodiness, her reliance on power and lack of interest in developing finesse, her uninspired strategic decisions--all this weighty critical baggage seemed to have been cast off when Pierce gained her first Grand Slam title.

Then the season wore on, with its cyclical bursts of encouragement and troughs of numbing disappointment. Pierce has not won a tournament since.

“I have to be honest, I started the year better than I expected, and the rest of the year didn’t go as I expected,” Pierce said. “It is a little bit disappointing, especially here--hard court is a good surface for me and I like to play in New York.

“You know, for me, losing in the third round is just unexpected. I really felt like I was playing well, working hard, and I felt like I was ready.”

Maybe by her reckoning, but Pierce’s preparation for this tournament was bleak. She was bounced out of the Canadian Open in such a listless manner that both her coaches publicly mused that their charge might do well with a heavy schedule of visits to a sports psychologist. In fact, Pierce said she did see a psychiatrist in France; she did nothing but cry during the three appointments.

On Friday, Pierce was asked, if winning the Australian Open was like a dream, what was this?

Pierce cackled at the question, but acknowledged its validity, answering, “What am I supposed to say, nightmare?”