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Mixed Results For Americans Sampras, Newcomer Gimelstob Win; Chang, Courier Defeated

Associated Press

Wimbledon witnessed the ragged state of American tennis Tuesday, with the notable exception of Pete Sampras and the hopeful emergence of Justin Gimelstob.

Down went Michael Chang. Down went Jim Courier. And as for the whereabouts or future of MIA Andre Agassi, no one had a clue.

Sampras, the most talented and steadfast of his generation, began his quest for a fourth Wimbledon title by beating Sweden’s Mikael Tillstrom 6-4, 6-4, 6-2.

Gimelstob, a 20-year-old former UCLA player, marked his first visit to Wimbledon by upsetting French Open champion and No. 11 seed Gustavo Kuerten 6-3, 6-4, 4-6, 1-6, 6-4.

A New Jersey native training in Florida as part of the USTA development program, the 6-foot-5 Gimelstob showed the most promise of being able to step into the gaping void created by the retreats of Agassi, Chang and Courier.

Gimelstob surely has a long way to go and much to prove, but he’ll have a chance to claim another big victory when he faces 1991 Wimbledon champion Michael Stich in the next round. Stich, who plans to retire this year, knocked off Courier, the 1993 runner-up, 7-6 (7-0), 7-5, 7-6 (7-2).

Kuerten, a 20-year-old clay courter from Brazil also visiting Wimbledon for the first time, double-faulted on the last point to become one of four seeded men to lose in the first round.

Gimelstob punctuated his win with a diving volley in the third game of the fifth set and celebrated with a leap and a shout.

“I felt I was getting a little low on energy, so I figured that would be a good time to voice a little aggression,” he said.

Australian Mark Woodbridge ousted Chang, the No. 5 seed, 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 6-2, 3-6, 8-6 in 3 hours, 54 minutes. Chang, who trailed 5-1 in the fifth set before taking the next five games, had won their last seven matches going back to 1993, and had won 11 of their 13 matches overall.

But Chang also was playing with a wrapped right thigh after suffering an injury in a tournament last week.

Greg Rusedski needed only 14 minutes to complete a 7-6 (8-6), 7-6 (8-6), 6-3 upset of No. 7 Mark Philippoussis.

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WIMBLEDON AT A GLANCE A brief look at what happened Tuesday, Day Two of the Wimbledon tennis championships: Weather - Sunny with occasional cloudy periods. High temperature was 64 degrees. Attendance - 37,871, a record for the first Tuesday. Last year’s second-day attendance was 34,447. Results - Men’s first-round winners: No. 1 Pete Sampras, No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, No. 8 Boris Becker, No. 9 Marcelo Rios, No. 12 Patrick Rafter, No. 13 Andrei Medvedev and No. 15 Wayne Ferreira. Women’s first-round winners: No. 1 Martina Hingis, No. 6 Amanda Coetzer, No. 7 Anke Huber, No. 8 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, No. 10 Conchita Martinez and No. 14 Brenda Schultz McCarthy. Upsets - Men’s first round: Todd Woodbridge beat No. 5 Michael Chang, Greg Rusedski beat No. 7 Mark Philippoussis, Justin Gimelstob beat No. 11 Gustavo Kuerten and Chris Wilkinson beat No. 17 Jonas Bjorkman. Women’s first round: Kerry-Anne Guse beat No. 13 Kimberly Po and Andrea Glass beat No. 15 Ruxandra Dragomir. Stat of the Day - Chang has lost in the first round of Wimbledon four times, including the last two years, since first playing here in 1988. His best showing was reaching the quarterfinals in 1994.

This sidebar appeared with the story: WIMBLEDON AT A GLANCE A brief look at what happened Tuesday, Day Two of the Wimbledon tennis championships: Weather - Sunny with occasional cloudy periods. High temperature was 64 degrees. Attendance - 37,871, a record for the first Tuesday. Last year’s second-day attendance was 34,447. Results - Men’s first-round winners: No. 1 Pete Sampras, No. 3 Yevgeny Kafelnikov, No. 8 Boris Becker, No. 9 Marcelo Rios, No. 12 Patrick Rafter, No. 13 Andrei Medvedev and No. 15 Wayne Ferreira. Women’s first-round winners: No. 1 Martina Hingis, No. 6 Amanda Coetzer, No. 7 Anke Huber, No. 8 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, No. 10 Conchita Martinez and No. 14 Brenda Schultz McCarthy. Upsets - Men’s first round: Todd Woodbridge beat No. 5 Michael Chang, Greg Rusedski beat No. 7 Mark Philippoussis, Justin Gimelstob beat No. 11 Gustavo Kuerten and Chris Wilkinson beat No. 17 Jonas Bjorkman. Women’s first round: Kerry-Anne Guse beat No. 13 Kimberly Po and Andrea Glass beat No. 15 Ruxandra Dragomir. Stat of the Day - Chang has lost in the first round of Wimbledon four times, including the last two years, since first playing here in 1988. His best showing was reaching the quarterfinals in 1994.