Jimmy Connors has some unsolicited advice for John McEnroe: Don't quit.

Connors, four days shy of 39 and in the third round of the U.S. Open, says McEnroe is way too young to think about retiring next year."He is 32 years old and if he thinks that he has passed his prime, I wish he would come sit down and talk to me, because I played my best tennis, my absolute best tennis, when I was 31, 32 years old," Connors said. "I won here twice in a row and I won Wimbledon.

"I think you're just really reaching your prime when you are 30, 32, 33 years old. I really do. Tennis-wise, maturity-wise, concentration-wise. You are able to click on and off a little better, instead of just going on a float for a couple of games."

Connors waved his florescent yellow racket like a wand and brought his magic back to the Open on Thursday night. He frolicked like a teenager in his 21st Open with a 6-2, 6-3, 6-2 romp over Michiel Schapers.

Connors was all business during play, reaching out nimbly to smack back returns with almost the same power and reflexes he showed in his youth. On approach shots, Connors was perhaps more efficient than in his younger days, making fewer mistakes and driving balls deep.

On a day when fans and players were collapsing in the heat and humidity, Pete Sampras breezed in the shade of the grandstand when his opponent, Wayne Ferreira, quit with a sprained ankle while losing 6-1, 6-2, 2-2. The abbreviated match lasted about as long as Sampras' first-rounder, a straight-sets romp in which he yielded only five games to Christo van Rensburg.

Boris Becker wouldn't mind making the U.S. Open his second home. He won here in 1989 and is looking strong this year, reaching the third round with a 6-0, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1 victory over Alexander Volkov.

Aaron Krickstein, who upset Andre Agassi in the first round, reached the third round when Jaime Yzaga suffered a strained right knee while losing 6-1, 3-6, 6-1, 3-2.

Thierry Champion retired with a pulled stomach muscle while trailing Anders Jarryd, 7-5, 6-2, 1-1.

French Open champion Jim Courier, wearing his familiar baseball cap to block the sun, needed only 1 hour, 39 minutes to beat Jimmy Arias 6-3, 6-2, 6-0.

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David Wheaton, who reached the semifinals at Wimbledon, advanced easily by beating Horst Skoff 6-1, 6-2, 6-2.

Four-time champion Martina Navratilova reached the third round with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over 1990 NCAA singles champion Debbie Graham of Stanford.

Wimbledon champion and top seed Steffi Graf took only 39 minutes to beat Catherine Mothes, 6-0, 6-0, the first double-bagel of the tournament.

"I told myself to concentrate on every single point and see how it goes," Graf said. "The thing is, she didn't really have the strokes to make the points."

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