Big challenge, says Sampras

Can one of the teen aces currently lighting up women8217;s tennis break through for a first Grand Slam title? Is there an unseeded player capable of following in the footsteps of 1997 champion Gustavo Kuerten?

All will be revealed after two weeks in what is regarded the toughest Grand Slam to win.

Attacking players have always struggled on the clay. That puts second seed Sampras, US Open champion Pat Rafter and fifth seed Richard Krajicek at a huge disadvantage as they try to upset the clay court form book.

8220;It8217;s the biggest challenge of my career at this stage,8221; Sampras admits. Rafter, the third seed, believes he may be on the way to conquering clay. He made the final of the Italian Open earlier in the month 8212; he lost to Kuerten 8212; and enjoyed successat the World Team Cup in Dusseldorf, where he led Australia to the title.

Rafter will be aiming to end a 30-year drought for Australian men. Not since Rod Laver triumphed by beating compatriot Ken Rosewall in 1969 has an Australian won the men8217;s singles title here.

Krajicek, a former Wimbledon champion, has been a semi-finalist here in 1993 and a quarter-finalist in 1996, but it is hard to see him making a breakthrough against a field that includes claycourt specialists like top-seeded Yevgeny Kafelnikov, defending champion Carlos Moya, last year8217;s beaten finalist Alex Corretja, Italian Open champion Kuerten and ninth-seeded Chilean Marcelo Rios 8212; the perennial under-achiever.

Australian Open champion Kafelnikov8217;s recent form has been decidedly spotty, but he consistently proclaims, 8220;It8217;s the Grand Slams that count.8221; Moya sees his fellow Spaniards, along with Kuerten and Rios, as his main rivals. 8220;If the title went elsewhere I8217;d be pretty surprised,8221; he said.

In the women8217;s singles, top seedsMartina Hingis of Switzerland was handed a potentially threatening draw when the pairings were made Friday.

Hingis could face powerful French player Amelie Mauresmo 8212; the player she beat at the Australian Open final earlier this year 8212; in the second round.

Mauresmo has already beaten Hingis this year, in the Paris Indoors.