John McEnroe returned to the scene of the crime today for a remarkable mostly - surprise - for his good behavior.
Two years ago, the brash New Yorker was kicked out of the Australian Open after throwing a temper tantrum on center court. But the fans welcomed him back with open arms even though he ousted Broderick Dyke, formerly Australia's top-ranked player, 6-2, 6-0, 6-1.The two-week Grand Slam event was marred for the second day by the withdrawal of a highly ranked player. Germany's Steffi Graf, the No. 2 women's seed, pulled out with a viral infection shortly before her first match and returned to Germany.
The illness, which began more than a week ago with an earache, is the latest in a string of ailments that has plagued Graf, who lost in the quarterfinals here last year and yielded her No. 1 ranking a few months later to defending champion Monica Seles.
Pete Sampras, the men's No. 6 seed, withdrew Monday with a shoulder injury.
A record National Tennis Center crowd of 23,832 still got its money's worth on a day highlighted by emotional matchups.
No. 2 men's seed Jim Courier drew a fine for a shouted obscenity as he struggled to a 6-4, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3 victory against France's Rodolphe Gilbert.
Courier, the French Open winner and U.S. Open runner-up, didn't get much respect from the 84th-ranked Gilbert or officials, who at first assigned the match to a distant outer court, then moved it to the smallest of three show courts.
"There were a few things frustrating out there," Courier said. "I was not hitting the ball as well as I'd like to, and he was hitting it cleanly. He had a few let-cords in a row, and that irritated me, but I got out of it."
Wimbledon winner Michael Stich of Germany had his hands full with Spain's Javier Sanchez. The No. 4 seed was down a break in the first set and lost the fourth before finally struggling into the second round with a 7-5, 6-1, 4-6, 6-3 victory.
Gabriela Sabatini of Argentina, the No. 3 women's seed, pleased her loyal following with an easy 6-2, 6-0 victory over outgunned Julie Halard of France.
No. 7 Guy Forget battled on center court for nearly four hours with fellow French Davis Cup hero Henri Leconte before finally prevailing in a see-saw five-setter 2-6, 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-4, 6-3.
After the emotionally draining match, Leconte climbed the net and hugged his doubles partner. The two walked off the court together with their arms draped around each other as the crowd stood and cheered.
At the same time, fans packed adjacent Court 1 even before Australia's Jason Stoltenberg and Goran Ivanisevic, who says he represents the breakaway Yugoslav republic of Croatia, took the court.
The smaller but very vocal Croatian contingent dueled constantly with Stoltenberg's backers, waving Croatian flags and chanting "Goran." The support seemed to help as Ivanisevic prevailed 7-6 (14-12), 6-3, 6-4, saving seven set points in the first set.
McEnroe won the first dozen points and lost only two points on serve in the first two sets as Dyke, now No. 753 on the men's tour, sprayed balls everywhere but on the court.
In one stretch, after holding to 4-2 in the first set, the soft-serving Dyke won only three points over the next seven games.
"It was one of those matches where his game played well into mine," McEnroe said. "I think I did everything well. This is the type of match I like to play."
McEnroe next meets Russian Andrei Cherkasov, ranked No. 21 in the world.