Kuerten, Ivanisevic motor on at U.S. Open

Gustavo Kuerten and Goran Ivanisevic confidently opened their campaigns for a second Grand Slam title of the season with victories at the U.S. Open tennis championships on Wednesday.

Kuerten and Ivanisevic both lost their opening matches at the National Tennis Center last year, but made no mistake in their first round encounters this time around.

French Open champion Kuerten, the Brazilian world number one and top seed in the season's last major, beat Daniel Vacek of the Czech Republic 6-4 6-4 3-6 7-5, while Wimbledon winner Ivanisevic ousted American Hugo Armando 6-4 6-4 6-3.

Three former women's champions also charged forward as top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland, third-seeded Lindsay Davenport and 10th seed Serena Williams mowed down the opposition to reach the third round.

Hingis, the 1997 champion, crushed 17-year-old Russian Lina Krasnoroutskaya 6-0 6-2 in just 37 minutes, 1998 winner Davenport demolished France's Emilie Loit 6-0 6-2 and 1999 titlist Williams overwhelmed Czech Denisa Chladkova 6-1 6-1.

Confidence was the theme of the day.

"Right now I believe a lot in myself," said Kuerten, who besides winning his third French Open crown this season has also won five other titles including the hardcourt Masters Series tournament in Cincinnati.

CHARISMATIC BRAZILIAN

"This tournament is very difficult to win. I have to go match by match," said the charismatic Brazilian, who pounded 64 winners against the serve-and-volleyer.

"It was a good test for me."

Ivanisevic, who thrilled the sports world with his rousing triumph as a wildcard at Wimbledon, has had trouble in the past in the early rounds at Flushing Meadows, but was in good form on Wednesday as he ripped 25 aces in the 98-minute romp.

"I just came here to have fun," said Ivanisevic, four times a first-round loser in the Open, including last year when he won the first set against Dominik Hrbaty before losing the next three 6-0 6-1 6-0.

"I play good after Wimbledon on hard court in Indianapolis," said the lanky Croat, who reached the semifinals there before falling to Kuerten.

"If I pass the first week (here), it's going to be again very, very open and I'm going to be very dangerous."

Davenport took another step toward keeping her Grand Slam streak alive by blasting her way past Loit in 42 minutes with 10 aces and the loss of just eight points on her serve.

FEELING SPECIAL

"I feel great," she said afterwards. Davenport won the title here in 1998, lifted the silverware in 1999 at Wimbledon and in the 2000 Australian Open.

She has her last chance of the season here at Flushing Meadows to extend her streak to four years in a row with a major crown.

"My focus is trying to win a Grand Slam," said Davenport, 25. "I haven't since the beginning of last year."

Williams, 19, was also full of optimism after taking just 44 minutes to register her one-sided victory.

"I'm feeling I can get any ball right now," she enthused. "I feel so fast, just so quick. I feel special."

Wimbledon runner-up Justine Henin of Belgium, seeded sixth, had a harder time, fighting her way through to the third round by overcoming Swiss Patty Schnyder 6-7 6-1 6-4 in just over two hours.

Next up for the 25-year-old Davenport will be 27th seed Angeles Montolio of Spain, who dismissed Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands 6-2 6-1.

Williams will face Martina Sucha of Slovakia, a 6-2 6-3 winner against Spain's Eva Bes in the second round, while Hingis meets the winner of the second-round match between Iva Majoli of Croatia and Germany's Barbara Rittner.

Other men's seeds to advance included Germany's Tommy Haas (16) and 1998 French Open champion Carlos Moya of Spain (17).

Haas, the winner of last week's Hamlet Cup tuneup and the silver medallist at the 2000 Olympics, swept Dutchman John van Lottum, while Moya won in straight sets against promising American Mardy Fish.