Whatever happens to untested Marcelo Rios against world No. 1 Pete Sampras, the 18-year-old from Chile can say he survived in the French Open longer than Stefan Edberg.
Or Ivan Lendl.Or Petr Korda.
Or a collection of top-ranked women felled like bowling pins in the first round.
By Tuesday night, with all but three first-round matches completed, three of the 16 seeded men and six of the women - including four of the top eight - were out.
One of the beneficiaries of the upsets is 12th-seeded Mary Pierce, the only seed left in her quarter of the draw.
Pierce, raised in Florida but playing for France, routed 17-year-old Maria-Francesca Bentivoglio of Italy 6-0, 6-1 today to reach the third round. She could make the semifinals - probably against top-seeded Steffi Graf - without facing a highly-ranked player.
Rios, ranked 283rd and the youngest player in the men's field, squeaked into his first Grand Slam by winning three qualifying matches. He beat another little-known qualifier, Australia's Joshua Eagle, on Monday, earning the right to a second-round match today with top-seeded Sampras, the most feared player in tennis.
Edberg, winner of six Grand Slams but never the French, should be so lucky.
"It's never easy to lose the first round," he said after a five-set loss to fellow Swede Henrik Holm. "It has happened before, but it is a tough one today."
At 28, Edberg now doubts he will ever win the clay-court tournament, an immense challenge to his serve-and-volley style.
"It doesn't look good now," he said. "I won't get that many more chances. . . . I might have another crack at it next year, but it is going to be very tough, because age is not on my side."
Lendl, 34, may not be back at all. After his three-set loss Tuesday to France's Arnaud Boetsch, he pulled out of Wimbledon and said back problems may cut short his career.
"Some days I feel good. Some days I don't feel that good," said Lendl, a three-time French Open champion. "I was feeling good for a few days, and then, for some reason, as the match went on I felt worse and worse."
Edberg aside, the other eight top-seeded men survived the first round.
But the women's field was in disarray. Tuesday's losers included No. 5 Jana Novotna, No. 6 Kimiko Date and No. 8 Gabriela Sabatini. They joined fourth-seeded Martina Navratilova, who lost Monday.
"It is very disappointing," said Sabatini, who hasn't won a title in more than two years. "It is kind of hard to believe I lost in the first round."
Novotna, although complaining of sore biceps, was similarly stunned.
"I'm devastated," she said. "I had such a good clay-court season and didn't expect to lose in the first round."
The upsets increase the likelihood that Graf and second-seeded Arantxa Sanchez Vicario will meet in the final.
Graf, pursuing her fifth straight Grand Slam title, faced 67th-ranked Stephanie Rottier of the Netherlands in a second-round match today. Sanchez Vicario plays France's Noelle Van Lottum on Thursday.
Sampras, assuming he gets past Rios, will face either Lars Jonsson of Sweden or Dutchman Paul Haarhuis in the third round.
One of the best pairings on today's card matched 11th-seeded Thomas Muster of Austria against Andre Agassi, ranked 19th in the world and twice a runner-up in the tournament.
Second-seeded Michael Stich, who won in straight sets Tuesday, faces Aaron Krickstein on Thursday.