Sampras Gets Off to Poor Start

Pete Sampras started the 2002 tennis season the same way he finished 2001--on the losing side.

Unseeded Todd Martin upset the second-seeded Sampras, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, in the first round of the Australian Men’s Hardcourt Championships on Wednesday at Adelaide.

Sampras, a former world No. 1 who failed to win a tournament in 2001, accepted a wild card for the event as a tuneup for the Australian Open, which begins Jan. 14 at Melbourne.

“It wasn’t the start I was looking for,” Sampras said. “It’s not a major setback. Setback is a pretty strong word, it’s just more not ideal.

“I have just got to start over, get back to the drawing board and hopefully gain some confidence next week.”

Martin said Sampras’ confidence has slipped.

“Since he’s not winning as many matches and not playing as many matches because he’s not winning, his confidence has waned,” Martin said.

“He is not hitting certain shots with the same amount of authority. He’s not taking some of the same chances that he took in years past.”

Top-seeded Tim Henman of Britain advanced when Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark retired because of a shoulder injury. Henman won the first set, 7-6 (2).

Mark Philippoussis, returning after a six-month layoff because of knee surgery, defeated Julien Boutter of France, 6-3, 6-4.

Top-seeded Venus Williams defeated Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder, 6-0, 6-4, on a sweltering day in the Australian Women’s Hardcourt Championships at Gold Coast.

“I really couldn’t believe the shots I was making,” Williams said. “I haven’t played since the U.S. Open in September and I surprised myself.”

Williams plays eighth-seeded Ai Sugiyama of Japan in the quarterfinals today.

Officials had to delay some matches when temperatures reached 104 degrees on center court at the Royal Pines Resort.

Fifth-seeded Silvia Farina-Elia eliminated South Korean qualifier Cho Yoon-jeong, 7-6 (5) 4-6, 6-3.

Francesa Schiavone and David Sanguinette beat their favored American opponents to spark Italy to a 2-1 victory in a round-robin match of the Hopman Cup at Perth, Australia.

Schiavone upset Monica Seles, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, and Sanguinette defeated Jan Michael Gambill, 7-6 (1), 6-3. Seles and Gambill won the mixed doubles, 6-1, 6-3.

Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt, the world’s No. 1-ranked player, ignored a high fever to win his singles match and later combined with Alicia Molik to beat Argentina. After his second match, Hewitt broke out in spots and later underwent tests to determine whether he had chicken pox.

Mary Pierce beat Barbara Schett, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3), in the Hong Kong Ladies Challenge, her first competitive match in more than seven months.

Pierce was sidelined because of injuries for much of last year.

Anna Kournikova advanced to the semifinals of the ASB Bank Classic with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory over Switzerland’s Emmanuelle Gagliardi today at Auckland, New Zealand.

Radek Stepanek, a qualifier from the Czech Republic, upset second-seeded Goran Ivanisevic, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2, in the second round of the Qatar Open at Doha.

Top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov defeated Nikolay Davydenko, 6-7, (4-7), 6-4, 6-4.

Alex Calatrava saved two match points in the second set and rallied to upset sixth-seeded Dominik Hrabaty, 2-6, 7-5, 6-2, in the second round of the TATA Open at Madras, India.

Second-seeded Thomas Johansson overcame a 3-1 deficit in the third set to beat Olivier Rochus, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4.

Soccer

U.S. national team captain Claudio Reyna will be sidelined for up to six weeks after bruising his left ankle Tuesday in Sunderland’s 1-1 tie with Aston Villa in an English Premier League game.

Reyna, who moved to Sunderland from Scotland’s Glasgow Rangers last month for $6.3 million, was carried off on a stretcher after being tackled from behind by defender Lee Hendrie in the first half.

Reyna said he suffered stretched ligaments in the ankle.

Miscellany

Dave Maggard, 61, was hired as athletic director at Houston. He is a former athletic director at Miami and California.... Former boxing heavyweight champion Mike Tyson checked out of a Havana hotel, a day after witnesses said he tossed glass Christmas ornaments at reporters trying to interview him. There were no reports of injuries, arrests or serious damage after the incident. Tyson reportedly left Cuba on an Air Jamaica flight.... Connie Price-Smith, a 24-time U.S. champion shot putter and discus thrower, and a four-time Olympian, retired. Price-Smith, 39, won the silver medal in the shotput at the 1995 World Indoor Championships and the gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1995 and 1999.... Former Olympian Butch Reynolds, suspended from track competitions for two years for allegedly failing a drug test, carried the Olympic torch on part of its route through Akron, Ohio.