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PARIS -- Defending champion Andre Agassi and Martina
Hingis on Tuesday were named the top seeds for the French Open,
tennis' second Grand Slam of the year which begins Monday.
Pete Sampras, who has won a record-tying 12 Grand Slam titles
but is still gunning for his first at Roland Garros, is seeded
second among the men behind Agassi while fellow American and
reigning Australian Open and Wimbledon champion Lindsay
Davenport is the second seed behind Hingis on the women's side.
Agassi became only the fifth men's tennis player to win all four
Grand Slam tournaments by rallying from a two-set deficit to
defeat Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine, 1-6, 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, 6-4, in
last year's final. He joined legendary players Rod Laver, Don
Budge, Roy Emerson and Fred Perry as the only men to win all
four majors.
After triumphing in Paris, Agassi continued his Grand Slam
success by winning two of the next three majors. He captured the
U.S. Open title, reached the final at Wimbledon and started 2000
by winning the Australian Open for his sixth career Grand Slam
title.
Hingis will not have to worry about Steffi Graf after losing to
the now-retired German in last year's emotionally charged final.
The Swiss teenager was frustrated by close calls and a crowd
that showed strong support for Graf, who captured her sixth
French Open title with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 victory.
Hingis was so distraught after the match she needed her mother
and coach, Melanie Molitor, to console her. She has lost in the
French Open final two of the last three years and it is the only
major that she has not won.
In January, Hingis was denied her fourth straight Australian
Open title by Davenport, who also will look to complete her
personal Grand Slam at Roland Garros. Hingis has five Grand
Slam titles to her credit, while Davenport has won three of the
four majors since 1998.
American women took three of the top four seeds as three-time
champion Monica Seles and Venus Williams are seeded third and
fourth, respectively. Venus' younger sister Serena, the
reigning U.S. Open champion, is the eighth seed.
Jennifer Capriati, who reached the semifinals at the Australian
Open, is seeded at a Grand Slam for the first time since 1993 at
No. 16. After battling off-the-court problems in the mid 1990s,
Capriati has climbed up the WTA rankings since the start of last
season and has regained her focus on the sport she took by storm
in the early 1990s.
Conchita Martinez of Spain, a three-time semifinalist, is seeded
fifth, followed by Frenchwomen Mary Pierce and Nathalie Tauziat,
Serena Williams and three-time champion Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario
of Spain.
Rounding out the 16 seeds are Amanda Coetzer of South Africa,
Sandrine Testud of France, Anke Huber of Germany, Frenchwomen
Julie Halard-Decugis and Amelie Mauresmo, Anna Kournikova of
Russia and Capriati.
For the men, Magnus Norman of Sweden, who reached the Australian
Open semifinals and won the Tennis Masters Series title in Rome
two weeks ago, is seeded third. Former champions Yevgeny
Kafelnikov of Russia and Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil are seeded
fourth and fifth, respectively. Rounding out the top eight
seeds are Cedric Pioline of France, Nicolas Kiefer of Germany
and Thomas Enqvist of Sweden.
Australian teenager Lleyton Hewitt, who leads the ATP Tour with
three titles this season, is seeded ninth, followed by 1998
runner-up Alex Corretja of Spain, Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador
and Marat Safin of Russia, who has enjoyed an impressive stretch
in the claycourt season by winning two titles and reaching the
final at Hamburg, Germany last week.
Completing the 16 seeds are Tim Henman of Britain, 1999
semifinalist Dominik Hrbaty of Slovakia, Younes El Aynaoui of
Morocco and Juan Carlos Ferrero of Spain.
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