Springtime in Paris

By LISA DILLMAN

May 29, 2000 12 AM PT

PARIS —

Hours after Steffi Graf’s magical ride through Roland Garros last year--a 22nd Grand Slam title and sixth French Open crown--her longtime coach, Heinz Gunthardt, was in a buoyant and reflective mood.

“This proves dreams come true,” he said. “All we need is the prince to ride up on the white horse and carry her away.”

Well, the prince was a guy from Las Vegas with a great return of serve. Andre Agassi had a match the next day, his career-reviving victory over Andrei Medvedev in the French Open men’s final, so the carrying-off-on-a-white-horse gig had to wait.

One year later, the 30-year-old Agassi surveyed the surroundings at the refurbished Center Court and gave his assessment.

“It’s always a little sad to see things change a bit,” he said. “I think they were great improvements. It still had some of the same magic out there.”

Agassi and Graf were the chief creators of that magic in 1999, an event seemingly marked by destiny. Agassi wasn’t supposed to win. He was one day away from not even playing because of a shoulder injury, showed up and was two points away from elimination in the second round against Arnaud Clement of France.

Graf, who eventually retired in August, simply wanted to get some match play before Wimbledon. She survived tough tests against Lindsay Davenport and Monica Seles, and in the final was being badly outplayed by Martina Hingis. Then, inexplicably, a petulant Hingis threw a monster tantrum. The crowd turned on Hingis, supporting Graf like a protective parent.

The dramatic turn of events led Graf to a three-set victory and she promptly declared that it was her final French Open.

As a player.

“I’m sure she’ll be out there supporting me,” Agassi said Sunday of his high-profile girlfriend. “German people should know. They follow us everywhere.”

Last year, Agassi arrived in Paris uncertain about his career and personal life, coming off his divorce from actress Brooke Shields.

“It’s quite a change of life,” said Agassi, who began dating Graf a few months after last year’s French Open. “A year later, it’s like it’s a lifetime ago. I just hope my life doesn’t ever change that much because it can only be not good if it changes that much.”

So, for him, it’s not that big a deal that his clay-court preparation has been limited to five matches_victories over Xavier Malisse, Todd Martin and Gaston Gaudio and losses to Jiri Vanek in Atlanta and Dominik Hrbaty in Rome.

This year, he has one Grand Slam title, the Australian Open, and two stirring Davis Cup performances in Zimbabwe and in Los Angeles as a strong base for his confidence.

“I feel much more prepared this year than I was last year,” Agassi said. “But I wish I wasn’t prepared if it means I’m going to win again. Things happen out there on the court that you need to get through. Last year, I had three different matches that technically I shouldn’t have won. I mean, I was down, close to being really out of it.

“It has little to do with how well you play starting a tournament as much as how well you play at the right time.”

Quite often, the best male player on clay in Europe has not been the last one standing in Paris. The grind of the various tuneup events is often energy-sapping. Of the top contenders, other than Agassi, the best player seemingly equipped to handle the long haul is fifth-seeded Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil. Kuerten, a winner in Hamburg this month, knows the Grand Slam routine, having won the French Open three years ago.

Three others with momentum this spring_third-seeded Magnus Norman of Sweden, 12th-seeded Marat Safin of Russia and 14th-seeded Hrbaty of Slovakia--have never reached a Grand Slam final. Hrbaty made it to the semifinals in Paris last year before losing to Agassi.

The marquee men’s match today will be second-seeded Pete Sampras against hard-hitting and big-serving Mark Philippoussis of Australia. This contest is made for grass, not clay. Sampras, on his continuing quest for his first French title, finally found some solace in a victory against Norman last week at Dusseldorf, Germany.

The women’s field is not nearly as muddled as the men’s. Hingis, a two-time finalist, and Davenport have exchanged the No. 1 ranking several times this year. Hingis grew up playing on clay but seems haunted in Paris. Davenport, the Australian Open champion, has dominated the series with Hingis, but dislikes playing on clay and is suffering from a back injury.

The injury forced her to withdraw after one match in Rome and to later sit out a tournament in Madrid. But Davenport, who has won every Grand Slam event except the French Open, received treatment in Paris last week and has been practicing.

“It’s really gotten a lot better since I got here,” she said of her back. “The last five days, it’s gotten better and better.”

She will open Tuesday against Dominique Van Roost of Belgium and has two other clay-court veterans in her half of the draw, fourth-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain and eight-seeded Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario of Spain.

“Sometimes, it’s great to have challenges early on,” Davenport said. “It makes you focus and get fired up. Hopefully, if I make it through, I’ll get better and better.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Featured Matches

Matches involving seeded players in today’s opening round of the French Open, seedings in parentheses:

MEN

Pete Sampras (2), United States, vs. Mark Philippoussis, Australia, Court Central

Yevgeny Kafelnikov (4), Russia, vs. Ivan Ljubicic, Croatia, Court 1

Gustavo Kuerten (5), Brazil, vs. Andreas Vinciguerra, Sweden, Court Suzanne Lenglen

Nicolas Kiefer (8), Germany, vs. Jan-Michael Gambill, United States, Court 10

Alex Corretja (10), Spain, vs. Alberto Martin, Spain, Court 2

Tim Henman (13), Britain, vs. Vince Spadea, United States, Court 2

Juan Carlos Ferrero (16), Spain, vs. Jerome Golmard, France, Court Suzanne Lenglen

WOMEN