Although he's won the last two Wimbledons, Pete Sampras won't be the top-seeded man at this year's tournament.
Wimbledon officials, deciding to stick with the world rankings, made 1992 champion Andre Agassi the top seed for the Grand Slam event that begins next Monday at the All England Club.Sampras is coming off a horrible clay-court season, but showed he is still a formidable force on grass by winning the Queen's Club tournament Sunday.
"The clay court season wasn't great; I'm trying to put that behind me now," Sampras said. "There's a lot of tennis still to be played before this year is over, so hopefully I can play better than I've played the last few months."
Unlike the other Grand Slam tournaments, Wimbledon doesn't go strictly by the rankings when choosing its seeds. Officials take into account the unique style of play required for grass courts in their attempt to produce a more realistic draw.
In the women's draw, five-time champion Steffi Graf is the top-seeded player. Graf was upset by Lori McNeil in the first round last year.
Three-time Wimbledon champ Boris Becker, who is seeded third this year, was fined $20,000 by the ATP on Monday for insinuating that Thomas Muster took illegal drugs at the Monte Carlo Open.
Muster, who complained of dehydration after his semifinal victory over Andrea Gaudenzi, rallied from two sets down in the final to defeat Becker on April 30.
After the match, Becker expressed astonishment at Muster's recuperation and appeared to suggest that the Austrian had used banned drugs.
The ATP said Becker has appealed the fine.
Meanwhile, the final Wimbledon warmup tournaments got under way Monday.
Michael Stich, the 1991 Wimbledon champion, beat fellow German David Prinosil 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the opening round at Halle, Germany.
At Eastbourne, England, Zina Garrison-Jackson and McNeil won their first-round matches. Garrison-Jackson defeated Germany's Wiltrud Prost 6-0, 6-1, and McNeil downed Australia's Rachel McQuillan 4-6, 6-2, 6-1.
Patrick Rafter beat his sister's boyfriend, Bryan Shelton, at Nottingham, England. Rafter rallied to win 6-7 (3-7), 6-1, 6-2.
In Davis Cup news, Russia is still involved in a dispute over the site of its semifinal against defending champion Germany.
The Russians want to hold the Sept. 22-24 competition in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, a proposal rejected by the International Tennis Federation. Russian players have said they may boycott the match if it is played elsewhere.
ITF president Brian Tobin met with Russian sports minister Shamil Tarpischev last week to discuss the matter, but little progress was made.