Paes enters second round

PARIS, May 26: So far, so good. Top-seeded Pete Sampras won his first-round match at the French Open today, taking a step toward winning th...

PARIS, May 26: So far, so good. Top-seeded Pete Sampras won his first-round match at the French Open today, taking a step toward winning the one Grand Slam title that eludes him. Sampras defeated France8217;s Fabrice Santoro in straight sets 6-3 7-5 6-1. After a hard-fought second set, he dominated the final set, closing it out with a service break. He never lost serve.

In other top matches, Yevgeny Kafelnikov began the defense of his title with a straight-set victory, and 16-year-old American Venus Williams began her Grand Slam career with a tough three-set win.

Indian Davis Cupper and Olympic bronze medallist Leander Paes overcame a second set deficit to crush Grant Stafford of South Africa. Showing immense determination and grit, Paes outclassed Stafford 6-4 3-6 6-3 6-2 to set up a second round meeting with Magnus Norman of Sweden, who defeated Britain8217;s Greg Rusedski 6-3 6-2 3-6 4-6 9-7.

Kafelnikov defeated Martin Damm of the Czech Republic 6-2 6-4 6-4, showing little effect of the broken finger he suffered with a blow to a punching bag in January.

Fifth-seed and 1995 champion Thomas Muster pulled back from the brink to outslog Marc-Kevin Goellner of Germany in a three-hour baseline marathon and reach the second-round.

The 29-year-old Austrian, who is scheduled to play defending champion Kafelnikov in the quarter-finals, trailed 2-4 in the final set before scoring a 6-4 6-7 4-7 6-2 6-7 2-7 6-4.

He now plays either Jeff Tarango of the United States or Marcelo Filippini of Uruguay.

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The unseeded Williams, the new great American hope in women8217;s tennis, was playing her first match outside the United States. She defeated Japan8217;s Naoko Sawamatsu 6-2 6-7 2-7 7-5 in a match lasting 2 hours 37 minutes.

Four other American women scored first-round victories Monday. Fifth-seeded Lindsay Davenport defeated South African Joannette Kruger 6-2 6-3. Unseeded Chanda Rubin beat Argetina8217;s Marinana Diaz-oliva 7-6 7-5 7-5. Amy Frazier and Nicole Arendt also won.

Spaniard Alex Corretja beat Morocco8217;s Kalim Alami, 6-3 6-4 6-1.

Third-seeded and three-time champion Monica Seles eliminated Miho Saeki of Japan, 6-0, 6-3. Seles could face Williams in the third round.