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Journalism of Courage
NEW YORK, Aug 31: Wimbledon runner-up Goran Ivanisevic avoided his usual US Open first-round jinx and Thomas Muster registered the first knock-out of a seed today as the last Grand Slam tournament of the year got under way at the National Tennis Centre.
Ivanisevic, a first-round loser at the US Open in three of the last four years, ripped past Australian doubles specialist Mark Woodforde 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 with the sun pouring down on Centre Court at Arthur Ashe stadium.
8220;The last time I won the first round I made the semis,8221; said Ivanisevic, recalling his 1996 Open campaign that ended with a defeat against eventual champion Pete Sampras. 8220;Maybe this is a good sign.8221;
Ivanisevic, who also fell to Sampras in this summer8217;s Wimbledon final, crashed 23 aces past Woodforde during the one hour, 27-minute match.
While the lanky, goateed Croat was dismissing Woodforde, former world number one Muster, of Austria, mustered his ground-stroking arsenal to oust 15th-seeded clay courter Alberto Berasategui of Spain,the 1994 French Open runner-up, 7-6 7-1 6-2 6-3.
Muster, three times a quarter-finalist at the Open, improved to 4-1 lifetime against the Spaniard as he avenged a defeat in the final of this year8217;s clay event in Estoril.
World No 1 and top seed Pete Sampras was following the 14th-seeded Ivanisevic onto Centre Court, beginning his quest for a record-tying 12th Grand Slam title against Marc Goellner of Germany.
On the women8217;s side, top-seeded Martina Hingis of Switzerland was due to follow Sampras and begin defence of her Open crown with a Centre Court test against Aleksandra Olsza of Poland.
Early women8217;s winners included 11th-seeded Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, who beat Japan8217;s Yuka Yoshida 7-6 7-5, 7-5, Poland8217;s Magdalena Grzybowska, Americans Kimberly Po and Laura Granville.
