Cheers for Seles, Boos for Agassi

The opening day of any Grand Slam tournament is usually awash with emotion. During Monday’s first round of the French Open, the range of emotions cut a wide swath through the blustery confines of Roland Garros: Monica Seles rode the wave of her emotions in a joyful return to red clay, while Andre Agassi’s emotional outbursts carried him to the brink of default.

Seles, a three-time French Open champion, was feeling bathed in warmth from a receptive crowd that welcomed the co-No. 1 seeded player back after a four-year absence. Agassi, who, to his consternation, has never won here, gave vent to frustration and impatience, through the twin outlets of a foul mouth and rapier racket.

Each conquered emotions and won. Seles blitzed Caroline Dhenin of France, 6-1, 6-1, and Agassi beat Jacobo Diaz of Spain, 6-1, 6-7 (7-5), 6-4, 6-4, on an opening day buffeted by wind, delayed by rain and shuddering from the cold.

Seles began the day auspiciously. She was asked by officials here to help dedicate what was formerly called Court A to its new name of Court Suzanne Lenglen, the glamorous French player of the 1920s whom Seles admires. Soon after Seles dedicated the court, she walked onto it to face Dhenin and rejoin the history here that is rich with her triumphs.

In 1989, the first year Seles played in the French Open, she was a semifinalist at age 15. She won the tournament the next three years. In 1993, Seles opened the season by winning the Australian Open and was deep into the clay court season and preparing for the French when she was stabbed in the back during a tournament in Hamburg.

“I was looking out my window one day, getting ready for the French,” Seles said. “Then I was [in a hospital] not even thinking about the French. I learned never to be disappointed, you surely never know what’s coming in your life, the good and the bad.”

Seles’ hard won perspective is helping her in this, her sixth tournament since she returned to the tour last August. She has been bedeviled with injuries wrought from pushing her body to do too much too soon. Seles again won the Australian Open in January but has hardly played since then. A muscle deep inside her left shoulder has been torn for four months, and the injury has impaired the left-handed Seles’ ability to serve and hit backhands.

The weakness was apparent in Monday’s first-round match, even against a player ranked No. 168. One of the features of Seles’ game upon her return was an improved serve. It has now been reduced to the powder-puff dimension. In the one match she played last week in Madrid, Seles’ first serves were clocked as slow as 30 mph. Multiply that by three and it’s close to her normal range.

The situation also evoked four double faults from Seles.

Happily for her, even when her game is marginal, Seles is still capable of obliterating opponents. Dhenin was slow and lumbered around the court, but even the hopeful encouragement of the home fans were not enough for the wild card to get to Seles’ well-placed shots.

It was Seles’ sincere reception of the crowd’s applause that the French fans appreciated. Shyly at first, Seles finally stood near the center of the court after the match and let the cheers wash over her.

“Today, it was very emotional,” Seles said. “It’s my first time back in Europe and being on the red clay. Pretty much since ‘89, the first time I came here, I had some amazing results. It has always been a very special place in my heart.”

Agassi’s obscene language warmed no hearts. His match was played through near-constant drizzle and was delayed for 1 1/2 hours by rain.

The match should not have been as difficult as it was. The talent difference between the players is vast, which one statistic underscored: Diaz has earned scarcely more than $1,200 in his career. Agassi has earned in excess of $12 million.

A bank account doesn’t count for much on the court. The No. 3 seeded Agassi lost his temper in an outburst that included a tossed racket, spitting and an audible obscenity. That brought a warning from the chair umpire.

Agassi’s second tantrum came after the first point in the seventh game of the third set. His obscenity elicited a point penalty. The next step is default, but Agassi said he was unconcerned.

“It’s a pretty long step,” Agassi said. “I felt pretty much in control as far as that goes. I have a tendency to make it more difficult on myself than it needs to be.”

In fact, he said the four sets it took him to put away the No. 261 player was a good workout.