Sampras battles into second round

Pete Sampras survived a late-night scare from Slovakia's Karol Kucera to keep his bid for a phenomenal 14th Grand Slam title on course in the early hours of Tuesday.

On a day that saw his perennial rival Andre Agassi cruise into the second round with minimum effort, the third seed was made to fight every inch of the way by Kucera, who looks set to reemerge as a potent force after being dogged by injury problems over the last 18 months.

Sampras, who finally emerged victorious 7-6 (7/5), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/3) after three hours 18 minutes on court, now faces Bohdan Ulihrach of the Czech Republic in the second round.

Barring a major upset, he should come up against Agassi, who looked close to his imperious best as he swept aside the Czech Republic's Jiri Vanek, at the quarter-final stage.

In the women's singles, the highlight of the opening day yesterday - apart from Anna Kournikova's new outfit - was Lindsay Davenport's fightback from a set down in an emotional- ly charged encounter with Jelena Dokic, a day after the 17- year-old had announced she was quitting Australia, where she has lived since she was 11, to play for her native Yugoslavia.

That decision followed allegations by Dokic's father Damir, who is currently banned from watching his daughter because of his disruptive behaviour at previous tournaments, of hostility from the Australian media and tennis hierarchy.

A feared backlash from the crowd failed to materialise and Dokic coped impressively well with all the pressure on court, forcing Davenport to produce some of her best serving to clinch the crucial third set and a 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 victory.