Andre Agassi ought to be able to sleepwalk through his first few matches in defense of his Australian Open title.
For Pete Sampras, the wake-up call begins in the first round.Sampras got hit today by the toughest draw among the top seeds in next week's Australian Open. He is going for a third straight Grand Slam title.
Sampras, whose No. 1 ranking is up for grabs by No. 2 Agassi and No. 3 Thomas Muster, plays Australian Richard Fromberg in the first round and could play a much tougher Australian, Mark Philippoussis, in the third round.
Sampras has won three of his four matches against Fromberg, but all have been close. Philippoussis, a Melbourne native of Greek heritage, nearly toppled Sampras in a close four-setter at the U.S. Open last September.
If Sampras, who is still congested and tired from the flu he caught two weeks ago, gets past those early threats, he's seeded to meet No. 7 Thomas Enqvist or No. 10 Goran Ivanisevic in the quarters and No. 3 Boris Becker in the semis.
Agassi, who beat Sampras in the final last year, has a much easier path to help him work back into shape after a three-month layoff caused by a pulled chest muscle. Agassi opens against a qualifier, then will likely face fellow American Vince Spadea. Agassi's toughest seeded opponents before the semis would be No. 8 Jim Courier, No. 9 Wayne Ferreira or No. 15 Todd Martin.
No. 5 Michael Chang also has a relatively easy start, though in the fourth round he could face former champion Stefan Edberg, who is playing his last year on the tour. If Chang gets by that, he's seeded to face Muster in the quarters and Agassi in the semis.
The National Sports Book in Australia, where sports betting is legal, listed Sampras as a 5-4 favorite before the draw. Agassi was 3-1, Becker and Goran Ivanisevic 10-1 each. Philippoussis was listed at 100-1.
In Melbourne, Australia, Russia's Yevgeny Kafelnikov upset top-seeded Andre Agassi 2-6, 6-2, 7-6 (7-2) to advance to the final of the Colonial Classic exhibition tournament at Kooyong.
At Sydney, Australia, Croatia's Goran Ivanisevic beat Australia's Todd Woodbridge 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) in the Peters International to set up a final-round rematch of his Grand Slam Cup victory over Todd Martin.