How sweet it is for Jennifer Capriati. And how Swede it was for the legion of players from that Scandinavian country.
Capriati, the 14-year-old sensation from Wesley Chapel, Fla., made her first trip to Stadium Court at the U.S. Open. She was impressed and impressive, and she became the youngest winner ever at the National Tennis Center."I think that's great that I could do that," she said after her hard-fought 7-5, 7-5 victory over West Germany's Anke Huber. "I feel really good about it."
And as far as the 20,000-seat Louis Armstrong Stadium is concerned, she said, "It's so big."
Before Capriati made her U.S. Open debut in the cavernous stadium, Stefan Edberg made a quick exit.
Four years ago, five players from Sweden were seeded at the U.S. Open, the top 16 players in the world. This year, Mats Wilander was the defending champion and Edberg was the No. 1 seed, coming off his second Wimbledon title in three years.
Today, only four Swedes are left in the men's draw. Wilander and Edberg are not among them.
Ivan Lendl, seeking a record ninth consecutive trip to the final and his fourth title, played his second match in two days today when he faced West Germany's Michael Stich.
In other key matches today, fifth-seeded Gabriela Sabatini played Isabelle Demongeot and Martina Navratilova, the No. 2 seed going for her second consecutive Grand Slam title, faced Britain's Clare Wood. In night matches, Monica Seles, the French Open women's champion, plays Ros Fairbank-Nideffer and Jim Courier, seeded 14th in the men's singles, takes on South African Gary Muller.
Edberg on Tuesday became the first top seed to lose in the opening round of the U.S. Open in 19 years, falling to Alexander Volkov of the Soviet Union 6-3, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
"He was very relaxed out there and had nothing to lose," Edberg said of Volkov.
Edberg, on the other hand, had a lot to lose, but not the world's No. 1 ranking. Despite the first-round defeat, the right-hander will continue in the No. 1 spot even if No. 2 Boris Becker or Lendl, the No. 3 player, wins the U.S. Open.
"This is something I need to sit down and think about," Edberg said. "I just have to think it over and try to not let it happen again."
Wilander, who rose to No. 1 in the world after winning the U.S. Open in 1988, has fallen to 59th on the computer. Unseeded this year, he was ousted by eighth-seeded Brad Gilbert on Monday.
Besides Edberg, other Swedes falling on Tuesday were Mikael Pernfors, the French Open finalist in 1986, Thomas Hogstedt and Lars Jonsson. Remaining in the hunt for the title are Johan Carlsson, Anders Jarryd, Peter Lundgren, David Engel and Jonas Svensson.
Edberg has one other distinction: He is the only seeded player to lose thus far in the tournament.
Tuesday's winners included Lendl, No. 4 Andre Agassi, No. 7 Emilio Sanchez, No. 9 Aaron Krickstein, No. 10 Andre Chesnokov, No. 11 Michael Chang and No. 13 Jay Berger.
Besides the 13th-seeded Capriati, other women's seeds who were victorious on Tuesday were Navratilova, No. 4 Zina Garrison, Sabatini, No. 6 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, No. 9 Manuela Maleeva-Fragnier, No. 12 Jana Novotna, No. 14 Natalia Zvereva and No. 15 Judith Wiesner.
"Maybe there is a little pressure," Capriati admitted after her close victory. "But it's fun. I'm just having fun."
Capriati ripped off the first eight points of the match en route to a 4-0 lead.
"She was making a lot of errors," Capriati said. "I didn't really win. She gave me free points. Then she started playing better and I started playing loose."
After Huber won five straight games, Capriati went on a six-game streak, closing out the first set and grabbing a 3-0 lead in the second. And again Huber, a 15-year-old West German, came back, knotting the set 5-5 before Capriati took the final two games and the victory.
John McEnroe, a four-time U.S. Open champion who is unseeded this year, won his first-round match, edging Spain's Javier Sanchez 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (7-3), 6-4.