ROUNDUP : GRAF, SAMPRAS DECIDE TO SKIP GAMES.

Byline: Associated Press 

The two best tennis players in the world won't be joining the world's best athletes at the Atlanta Olympics.

Three days before the Games begin, Steffi Graf and Pete Sampras, two of the bigger names at the Games, withdrew. Graf pulled out Tuesday with a knee injury; Sampras cited a strained right Achilles' tendon.

Graf, the No. 1 women's tennis player and a favorite to add a second Olympic gold medal to her ever-increasing collection of titles, has been bothered by a tender knee for weeks.

``It actually happened prior to Wimbledon,'' Graf said. ``I was practicing on a grass court and I was aggravating the knee by one strange movement.

``Since then, I've been trying all different medications, treatments, and it worked for a while. But I guess it's time to take a break and give it a rest to let it heal up.''

Despite the pain, Graf won Wimbledon, her second major championship this year, the 20th of her career and her 100th tournament title. In June, she won the French Open.

The Olympics were next on her list and she was a heavy favorite in a strong field that includes Monica Seles and Arantxa Sanchez Vicario. Graf previously won the Olympic gold in 1988 at Seoul, and she took the tennis exhibition tournament at the 1984 Los Angeles Games. Four years ago, Graf won silver, losing the final at Barcelona to Jennifer Capriati.

Sampras has had a difficult year. His coach, Tim Gullikson, died of cancer on May 3. Sampras has not won a major tournament this year and had his string of titles at Wimbledon ended at three by Richard Krajicek earlier this month.

Sampras was in Florida filming a TV commercial when his withdrawal was announced by the U.S. Olympic Committee and the U.S. Tennis Association.

``This is a very unfortunate time to suffer an injury,'' Sampras said. ``I was really looking forward to competing at the Olympics. After I lost at Wimbledon, I was determined to make up for it by winning a gold medal. I'm very disappointed.''

A substitute was not selected, but the American men's team remains strong with Andre Agassi, MaliVai Washington - who lost to Krajicek in the Wimbledon final - and Richey Reneberg.

Animals protected: For months and months, animal-protection activists have been kicking up a fuss about holding Olympic equestrian events in the Deep South in late July.

Now, with the running, jumping and trotting of the horses set to begin in less than a week, Atlanta Olympics officials and veterinary experts are confident the animal Olympians are being protected - maybe even pampered.

``We can conclusively say the best cared-for athletes in the Olympics will be four-legged, not two-legged,'' said Dr. Kent Allen, veterinary coordinator for the Atlanta Committee on the Olympic Games.

They can get dampened by a series of 85 misting fans and cool bathing with the help of 100 tons of ice, and they will compete on a course especially designed for extra rests and shaded stretches, and with their most strenuous event tests shortened. They got an extra week here for acclimation and they'll begin some events just after dawn to take advantage of the nighttime cool.

And there will be 80 vets on hand to monitor and tend to the 64 horses competing in the grueling endurance test in the three-day event competition.

Tickets picture: Caught up in the Olympic frenzy but don't have tickets? There's plenty left and people are lining up to get them.

A stream of customers has filled the main ticket center since people started crowding into Atlanta last weekend.

Some are leaving happy, some empty-handed.

Pete VanVoorst of Atlanta waited in line about 15 minutes Tuesday, forked over $132 and walked away with tickets to track and field and a gymnastics practice session.

``We'd heard all the horror stories,'' he said.

Lillie Swanagen of Houston didn't do as well. She wanted tickets to the Opening Ceremonies but couldn't afford the necessary $636.

CAPTION(S):

2 Photos

Photo: (1) SAMPRAS

(2) GRAF