Seles withdraws; tough draw for Sampras

PARIS, MAY 25. American Pete Sampras faces a tricky draw in his 12th attempt at the French Open, the only Grand Slam title still eluding him.

After a first round match against a qualifier, the seven-time Wimbledon champion, seeded fifth, will head for a quarterfinal against third seed Andre Agassi, winner in 1999.

American Monica Seles, who would have been seeded sixth in the women's draw, pulled out with injury two days after defending champion Mary Pierce.

Top women's seed Martina Hingis has reasons to be satisfied with her draw since Venus Williams, Lindsay Davenport and in-form Frenchwoman Amelie Mauresmo are all in the other half.

On the way to his possible showdown with Agassi, Sampras, whose best result in Paris was a semifinal showing in 1996, may have to face tricky opponents like former finalist Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine, German Tommy Haas or Frenchman Sebastien Grosjean, seeded 10th.

- Reuters

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Section  : Sport
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