THE WORLD number four Boris Becker came perilously close to a first round exit from the Australian Open in Melbourne yesterday but fought back to win a titanic five-set match against Canadian-born Briton Greg Rusedksi.
The German fourth seed finally overcame the stubborn, big-serving Rusedski 6-4, 3-6, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in two hours 49 minutes after looking set to repeat his recent abysmal form in the year's first Grand Slam event.
Becker, 28, who lost in the first round in the previous two years after winning the event in 1991, had started confidently, wrapping up the first set in 30 minutes.
But the 33rd-ranked Rusedski got his booming serve working - one ace was timed at 217 kph (135 mph) in the second set - and errors crept into Becker's game as he battled with his self-control.
After losing the second set, Becker's game fell apart, almost predictably, in the third after a couple of suspect line calls and he lost 10 straight points at 4-4 to lose it 6-4.
Unlike previous years, Becker was able to cast off the self-doubt and focus on the match, with his serve and passing shots the main weapons in pulling back the fourth set.
With the crowd behind him Becker reeled off seven straight points in the final set to break Rusedksi and go into a 4-3 lead. He easily held his own serve and broke the Briton again to take the match.
The only first-round casualty among the men's seeds was 16th seed Paul Haarhuis of the Netherlands who went down in three sets to Belgium's 69th-ranked Filip Dewulf.
Becker's victory was a much-needed boost for the Germans who have suffered their worst performance in an Australian Open first round in a decade with only two of their eight men - Becker and Martin Sinner - through to the second round.
The most embarrassing defeat was David Prinosil's five-set loss at the hands of 183rd ranked Italian qualifier Diego Nargiso.
Earlier, world number one Sampras quickly proved he was over last week's nasty bout of influenza with a first-round straight sets win over Australian Richard Fromberg.
The top-seeded American beat Fromberg 7-5, 6-3, 6-2 while third-seeded Austrian Muster easily despatched France's Thierry Guardiola 6-3, 6-3, 6-2.
Sampras admitted his match was tougher than the score suggested but said his preparation was far from ideal, with his illness preventing him from playing in last week's Kooyong Classic exhibition event.
Second-seeded Agassi, who inflamed tendons in his right knee when he stumbled down a spiral staircase at his hotel, is battling to be fully fit for today's second round evening match against fellow American Vince Spadea.
Former world number one Stefan Edberg, inspired by thousands of emotional supporters, narrowly avoided first-round defeat in a match marking the start of the Swede's final Grand Slam tour.
Edberg, competing in his last Open at Flinders Park, drew an over-capacity crowd to the venue's number one court as he fought a see-sawing five-set duel with Czech Jiri Novak, whose powerful serves and passing shots threatened an upset.
But the crowd, many of them perched on the court's walled perimeter, urged Edberg on, virtually willing him to take the final set and the match 7-6, 7-5, 3-6, 5- 7, 6-1 in a completely one-sided show of support.
South African ninth seed Wayne Ferreira was knocked out of the Australian Open early today by Slovakia's Karol Kucera in a second round match. Kucera, ranked 76 in the world, ousted Ferreira 6-1, 6-3, 6-0 and will play either American Chuck Adams or South African Marcos Ondruska in the third round. Fifth seeded American Michael Chang progressed to the third round with a straight sets win over Switzerland's Jakob Hlasek 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.
