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Sampras, Chang advance; Agassi ousted at Lipton Championships / Mar 22

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Mar 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/22/97

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<H1><CLARI-ITEM HEADLINE>Sampras, Chang advance; Agassi ousted at Lipton Championships</CLARI-ITEM></H1>
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<CLARI-ITEM STORY>
<H2>SPORTSTICKER TENNIS NOTE</H2>

Top seed and world number one Pete Sampras breezed into the
third round, but fellow American and two-time defending champion
Andre Agassi continued his downward spiral today in second-round
action at the $4.2 million Lipton Championships in
Key Biscayne, Florida.

Sampras, a two-time champion, stormed past Adrian Voinea of
Romania, 6-2, 6-0, while Agassi, the 12th seed, fell to
Australian Scott Draper, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.

In other second-round action, third seed Michael Chang of the
United States had to wait a day, but emerged victorious over
24-year-old American qualifier Mark Merklein, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).

In addition, second seed Thomas Muster of Austria will take on
South African Grant Stafford.

The 25-year-old Sampras, who also won this year's Sybase Open
and the Advanta Championships, improved to 28-5 lifetime at the
Lipton Championships.

Sampras, the reigning Australian Open champion, had his 17-match
winning streak stopped by Bohdan Ulirach of the Czech Republic
at last week's Champions Cup. He can move past Rod Laver in
career tournament wins with 48 and eighth on the all-time list
by winning the Lipton.

Agassi, who also won here in 1990, suffered his fifth straight
loss this season after winning his first three matches to open
the year.

Chang, the 1992 Lipton champion, has now won 18 of 20 matches
this season and extended his winning streak to 11 in a row. He
has captured two ATP Tour titles in 1997, winning last week's
Champions Cup and last month's Kroger St. Jude.

Muster, ranked second in the world, is known as the master of
clay but has proven himself adept on the hardcourts, posting a
15-3 match record this season. He reached the semifinals of the
Australian Open and won in Dubai.

Number 10 Boris Becker of Germany, still bothered by his
lingering wrist problems, withdrew just prior to his match with
countryman Hendrik Dreekmann after deciding that his wrist was
not strong enough for him to compete. Becker, who has played
just three matches in 1997, was replaced in the draw by Lucas
Arnold of Argentina.

Earlier, fifth seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Richard
Krajicek of the Netherlands struggled past Hernan Gumy of
Argentina, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), and number 11 Albert Costa of Spain
stormed past Filip Dewulf of Belgium, 6-3, 6-2.

Three seeded players did not get out of the second round. Sixth
seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden was knocked out by Daniel Nestor
of Canada, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3; Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty ousted
number 13 Felix Mantilla of Spain, 6-4, 6-4; and 19-year-old
Spanish qualifier Julian Alonso surprised Britain's top player,
number 14 Tim Henman, 6-7 (4-7), 6-2, 6-3.

In addition, seventh seed and Australian Open finalist Carlos
Moya of Spain meets Argentinian Marcelo Charpentier; eighth seed
Marcelo Rios of Chile goes against American Jeff Tarango; and
number 15 Marc Rosset of Switzerland plays Slava Dosedel of the
Czech Republic.

On the women's side, second seed Arantxa Sanchez Vicario of
Spain and third seed Jana Novotna of the Czech Republic, both
seeking their first titles of the year, posted three-set
victories over Japanese opponents to advance to the third round.

Sanchez Vicario got past Naoko Kijimuta, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2, while
Novotna rallied to defeat Miho Saeki, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Sanchez Vicario, who improved to 6-2 on the year, lost both her
Federation Cup matches against Belguim, but after naming her
brother, Emilio, as coach, she reached the semifinals of last
week's Evert Cup.

In other second-round action, sixth seed Anke Huber of Germany
cruised past American Lori McNeil, 6-3, 6-3; seventh seed Irina
Spirlea of Romania breezed past Italy's Flora Perfetti, 6-2,
6-0; and eighth seed Iva Majoli of Croatia got past Shi-Ting
Wang of Taipei, 6-4, 1-6, 7-6 (7-3).

Also, number 11 Barbara Paulus of Austria disposed of Germany's
Elena Wagner, 6-1, 6-3; number 13 Judith Wiesner of Austria
topped Els Callens of Belgium, 6-2, 6-3; number 14 Kimberly Po
of the United States defeated Argentina's Florencia Labat, 6-4,
6-0; and number 16 Elena Likhovtseva of Russia crushed American
Jolene Watanabe, 6-2, 6-0.

Three seeded women were second-round casualties. Natasha
Zvereva of Belarus upended ninth seed Karina Habsudova of
Slovakia, 6-4, 6-3; Russian teen sensation Anna Kournikova
eliminated number 12 Amanda Coetzer of South Africa, 6-1, 3-6,
6-3; and Tatiana Panova of Russia outlasted number 15 Brenda
Schultz-McCarthy of the Netherlands, 1-6, 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Also, fifth seed Lindsay Davenport of the United States, who
captured her second singles title in less than a month at last
week's Evert Cup, goes against Anne-Galle Sidot of France.

Top seed Martina Hingis of Switzerland and fourth-seeded Monica
Seles of the United States both needed three sets on Friday to
advance to the third round.

Hingis extended her winning streak to 24 matches by rallying
past Patricia Hy-Boulais of Canada, while Seles, making her
first appearance of 1997, got past Naoko Sawamatsu of Japan.

The 16-year-old Hingis will become the youngest world number one
when the next WTA Tour rankings are released on March 31st,
taking over the top spot from injured Steffi Graf of Germany.

Hingis will be 16 years and six months old when she claims the
top spot, replacing Seles as the youngest number one ever. Seles
was 17 years, three months and 19 days when she passed Graf on
March 11th, 1991.

Seles had not played a tournament since last November, when she
was forced to retire in her first-round match at the WTA
Championships. She broke her right index finger last November
and was unable to defend her Australian Open title in January.
She also has been at the side of her father, Karolj, who is
suffering from stomach cancer.

All seeds received first-round byes.
Graf, the three-time defending champion, has been on the shelf
with an injured left knee and is not expected to return to the
Tour until April at the Rexona Cup in Hamburg.

Of the world's top 20 players, only number four Yevgeny
Kafelnikov of Russia, 14th-ranked American Todd Martin and
number 17 Stefan Edberg of Sweden are missing from the draw.
Kafelnikov is still nursing his broken right hand, Martin is
recovering from an elbow injury and Edberg is retired.

Mary Pierce of France, ranked 13th, is suffering from a strained
right calf and will not play. Sixth-ranked Conchita Martinez of
Spain is also missing.

Other than the Grand Slams, the Lipton Championships is one of a
handful of tournaments that blend the men's and women's tours.
Officials from the ATP and WTA are meeting this week to discuss
having the tours cross paths in Hamburg, Germany; Rome, Italy;
and Cincinnati.

The prize money is lucrative, with the men's winner receiving
$360,000 and the women's champion $215,000.
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Sports Ticker

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Mar 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/22/97

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<CLARI-ITEM STORY>
<H2>SPORTSTICKER TENNIS NOTE</H2>

Pete Sampras' streak may have ended last week, but Andre
Agassi's just keeps going.

Top seed and world number one Sampras breezed into the third

round, but fellow American and two-time defending champion

Agassi continued his downward spiral today in second-round

action at the $4.45 million Lipton Championships in Key
Biscayne, Florida.

Sampras, a two-time champion coming off his first loss of the
season, stormed past Adrian Voinea of Romania, 6-2, 6-0, while

Agassi, the 12th seed, fell to Australian Scott Draper, 7-6
(7-5), 6-1.

Agassi, who also won here in 1990, suffered his fifth straight
loss this season after winning his first three matches to open
the year.

Sampras had his 17-match winning streak stopped by Bohdan

Ulirach of the Czech Republic at last week's Champions Cup. He

can move past Rod Laver into eighth on the all-time list in
career tournament wins with 48 by winning the Lipton.

In other second-round action, third seed Michael Chang of the
United States had to wait a day, but emerged victorious over

24-year-old American qualifier Mark Merklein, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4). In
addition, second seed Thomas Muster of Austria ousted South
African Grant Stafford, 6-4, 2-6, 6-1.

The 25-year-old Sampras, who also won this year's Sybase Open
and the Advanta Championships, improved to 28-5 lifetime at the
Lipton Championships.

Chang, the 1992 Lipton champion, has now won 18 of 20 matches
this season and extended his winning streak to 11 in a row. He
has captured two ATP Tour titles in 1997, winning last week's
Champions Cup and last month's Kroger St. Jude.

Muster, ranked second in the world, is known as the master of
clay but has proven himself adept on the hardcourts, posting a

16-3 record this season. He reached the semifinals of the

Australian Open and won in Dubai.

Number 10 Boris Becker of Germany, still bothered by his
lingering wrist problems, withdrew just prior to his match with
countryman Hendrik Dreekmann after deciding that his wrist was
not strong enough for him to compete. Becker, who has played
just three matches in 1997, was replaced in the draw by Lucas
Arnold of Argentina.

Earlier, fifth seed and reigning Wimbledon champion Richard
Krajicek of the Netherlands struggled past Hernan Gumy of
Argentina, 7-5, 7-6 (7-4), and number 11 Albert Costa of Spain
stormed past Filip Dewulf of Belgium, 6-3, 6-2.

Four seeded players did not get out of the second round. In
addition to Agassi, sixth seed Thomas Enqvist of Sweden was

knocked out by Daniel Nestor of Canada, 7-6 (11-9), 6-3;
Slovakia's Dominik Hrbaty ousted number 13 Felix Mantilla of
Spain, 6-4, 6-4; and 19-year-old Spanish qualifier Julian Alonso
surprised Britain's top player, number 14 Tim Henman, 6-7 (4-7),
6-2, 6-3.

In a night match, Slava Dosedel of the Czech Republic rallied to
upset 15th-seeded Marc Rosset of Switzerland, 5-7, 6-2, 7-5.

Also, seventh seed and Australian Open finalist Carlos
Moya of Spain got past Argentinian Marcelo Charpentier 7-6 (7-4),
6-4.

In a night match, eighth seed Marcelo Rios of Chile goes against
American Jeff Tarango.

Among the unseeded players to advance today were American Jim
Courier, who crushed Australian Sandon Stolle, 6-2, 6-2; Sergi
Bruguera of Spain, who downed Jason Stoltenberg of Austalia,
6-3, 3-6, 7-5; Sweden's Nicklas Kulti, who outlasted Frenchman
Cedric Pioline, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8); and Spaniard Alex
Corretja, who defeated Frenchman Jerome Golmard, 7-5, 6-3.

week's Evert Cup, is currenlty in action against Anne-Galle

Sidot of France.

Four unseeded American women also advanced today. Venus Williams
got by countrywoman Jennifer Capriati, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-2;
Chanda Rubin routed Ann Grossman, 6-2, 6-0; Amy Frazier easily
beat Barbara Rittner, 6-4, 6-3; and Lisa Raymond downed Rika
Hiraki, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.

Sports Ticker

unread,

Mar 22, 1997, 3:00:00 AM3/22/97

In a night match, eighth seed Marcelo Rios of Chile dispatched
American Jeff Tarango, 7-5, 6-2.

week's Evert Cup, downed Anne-Galle Sidot of France, 6-4, 6-2.

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