NEWSWIRE

Tennis

Pete Sampras got off to a good start at the ATP World Championship in Hanover, Germany, unfortunately for Marcelo Rios, so did Tim Henman.

Sampras beat Russia’s Yevgeny Kafelnikov, 6-2, 6-4, in his opening match, and Rios of Chile was upset, 7-5, 6-1, by the big-serving Henman of Britain.

Sampras leads Rios by only 33 points in the computer rankings and is seeking to become the first man to finish at No. 1 for six years in a row. He shares the record with Jimmy Connors.

Rios needs to win at least two matches in the round-robin portion of the elite event to have a shot at dethroning Sampras in the final rankings for the year.

In another match, Carlos Moya of Spain rallied to beat Karol Kucera of Slovakia, 6-7 (5-7), 7-5, 6-3, for his first indoor victory this year in six matches.