MERRY MOOD IN MELBOURNE : SAMPRAS LIKES AUSTRALIAN; GRAF CHASES COURT RECORD.

Byline: Bud Collins Boston Globe

``Summertime, and the livin' is easy. . .'' as Porgy serenaded Bess (according to Gershwin), and Pete might well croon to Steffi.

Pete and Steffi - as in Sampras and Graf - won't make beautiful music together, but singly they should make life anything but easy for those in their way as another tennis campaign commences in earnest beside the tranquil Yarra River in sunstruck Melbourne. You start at the bottom in this game, the bottom of the world, which means the Australian Open, the first of the year's four majors.

It's June in January, as another old lyric goes, and June is bustin' out all over as it did in that joyful song-and-dance scene out of ``Carousel.'' That's the mood in Australia where the national watchwords - ``No worries, mate!'' - are constantly on display. Christmas vacation is still on for the school kids, and the tournament is a feel-good picnic in the park. Plenty of greenery even though the best of the planet's tennis playpens is right downtown, and you don't need too much green to get in. Family rate: $45 (that's $30 US) for mom and pop and two kids.

``Everybody feels good,'' said Sampras, the 1994 champ, who smiles more than usual during visits to the Southern Hemisphere. Not two years ago, of course, he broke down in tears while beating Jim Courier, the day he learned that his coach/best friend, Tim Gullikson, had a brain tumor. Gullikson died seven months ago. Since Pete has recently parted from his lady love of six years - the only one thus far - Delaina Mulcahy, he enters the new year without the two people closest to him during his ascent to No. 1.

``These are things from real life, new to me,'' he said. ``Athletes, me anyway, have been pretty sheltered from the everyday problems. But I'm adjusting. It's a new year, the people and the place are very nice, the weather good. And,'' he added with a laugh, ``there are a lot less of you guys (the press) than at the other three majors.''

Graf glows despite family trauma (her father's continuing trial for tax evasion in Germany). She said she was ``glad to be back and quite healthy. I came early to take advantage of the weather to prepare. I love this one. You know the weather is always going to be good. I mean, if it rains, they just close the stadium roof.''

Steffi, at 18, launched her 1988 Grand Slam here as the sleek mint-green ballpark, too, was launched, beating Chris Evert on a rainy afternoon. Evert, playing the last of her 31 major finals, didn't like the case presented her as the convertible roof clanged together, and an outdoor final abruptly became indoor. ``We started outdoors and should have waited and stayed that way,'' Evert reasoned. But the shut-in was shut out and Graf began a serious run to overhaul Chrissie in the record book.

It took her eight years. She passed Evert (and Martina Navratilova's) 18 singles majors by winning the French last year and landed at 21 by taking Wimbledon and the US Open. Now the road appears clear as she stalks a 54-year-old woman in Perth: Margaret Smith Court, who won the record 24 times, the last in 1973.

``Nobody in their beeriest dreams could have imagined anybody threatening Margaret,'' said her onetime partner, Judy Dalton, a Melbourne journalist. ``But I reckon Steffi will go by her. Well, good on her. She's a wonder.''

But the food chain is unceasing. As Steffi eyes the old shark, Court, a hungry minnow, 16-year-old Martina Hingis, is sharpening her incisors for Steffi. ``I think I'm ready to win,'' the kid said. ``I had her in New York'' - the unique five-set final of the Chase Championships two months ago - ``but then I cramped. I'm getting stronger all the time.''

But these ``centuries'' - 100-degree days in Australianese - of Monday and Tuesday didn't thrill Boris Becker. He, the 1996 King, was overthrown on the opening afternoon by a Spanish commoner, a soulful 6-foot-3-inch ramrod named Carlos Moya, 5-7, 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 6-1, 6-4, an almost unheard-of early act of sabotage in a major.

For the 20-year-old, 25th-ranked man from Majorca, it was his version of the ``Impossible Dream.'' He was an unreasonable, undauntable Don Quixote tilting with racket against the dreaded windmill, certified all-timer Becker - and winning with slick passing shots.

Moya was loved by the kids who chanted his name. Also by an aging Spaniard in the crowd, Hall of Famer Manolo Santana. ``These things happen,'' said Manolo. ``Maybe about every 30 years. I know because it happened to me in the first round. Now I get to see it happen to somebody else.''

Becker said Moya and the heat did him in. ``My legs and feet are burning. My brain is scrambled eggs.'' It sounds worse in German: ``ruehereir.'' But not so bad in Spanish: ``huevos revueltos.'' Regardless of how you say it, Moya, the scrambler, had served up a dish unfit for a king.

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Photo

Photo: Pete Sampras, who has broken up with his girlfriend, is favored in Melbourne.

Associated Press