Pete Sampras, the No. 2 seed, tumbled out of the French Open in the first round today, losing a dramatic five-set match to Austrian Gilbert Schaller.
Schaller, in the most impressive victory of his life, roared back after losing two sets to win 7-6 (7-3), 4-6, 6-7 (7-4), 6-2, 6-4. The match was suspended by darkness Tuesday with Sampras leading 3-1 in the third set.Schaller, 26, has won only one tournament in his career, in Morocco this year, and had won only one match in seven previous Grand Slams. But he returned Sampras' powerful serves with aplomb - despite the Americans' 24 aces - and scored well with his rocket-like backhand.
Sampras, who committed 99 unforced errors to 41 for Schaller, continued a streak of misery on clay this year. This was the fourth time in five clay outings that he failed to survive his opening match.
"This loss is probably going to sit with me for quite a while," Sampras said.
"I had some chances and just came up a little bit short."
The last time Sampras lost in the first round of a Grand Slam was at Wimbledon in 1990, just before his first Grand Slam title at the 1990 U.S. Open.
Another seeded serve-and-volleyer, No. 15 Richard Krajicek, also was ousted. Andrew Ilie, a qualfier from Australia ranked only 256th, beat the Dutchman 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 2-6, 6-4 in a second-round match.
Jim Courier, the No. 13 seed who was champion here in 1991 and 1992, breezed past Kenneth Carlsen of Denmark, 6-3, 6-4, 6-0. Tenth-seeded Magnus Larrson - a surprise semifinalist last year - triumphed 6-1, 1-6, 6-2, 6-4 over Jordi Arrese of Spain
A host of seeded women advanced today, although No. 2 seed Steffi Graf was unhappy as she won her 20th straight match, beating fellow German Petra Begerow 6-4, 6-3 in the second round.
Also advancing to the third round were No. 4 seed Conchita Martinez with a 6-2, 6-3 over Miriam Oremans of the Netherlands, and No. 8 Gabriela Sabatini, who won 7-5, 6-3 over Amanda Coetzer of South Africa.
Three other seeded women, No. 5 Jana Novotna, No. 7 Lindsay Davenport and No. 9 Kimiko Date, won their first-round matches.
The tournament's youngest player, 14-year-old Martina Hingis of Switzerland, had a spectacular French Open debut, saving three match points against experienced Austrian Judith Wiesner to salvage a 2-6, 6-3, 7-5 victory. Hingis has soared to 23rd in the world rankings, just behind the 22nd-ranked Wiesner.
Graf, a three-time champion seeking to regain the title she last won in 1993, was not happy with her victory over Begerow, the world's 71st-ranked player.
"I didn't really play well at all," Graf said. "I made way too many mistakes. Concentration is the main problem."
Novotna, who lost her only previous match on clay this year, triumphed 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 over Austrian Sandra Dopfer,
Davenport, winner of last week's Strasbourg Open, was a 7-6 (7-4), 6-0 victor over Min Tang of Hong Kong. Date beat Ludmila Richterova of the Czech Republic, 6-2, 6-2.