SAMPRAS: NO OPEN-AND-SHUT CASE; STREAKING AGASSI, PHYSICAL CONDITION STAND IN HIS WAY.

Byline: Darryl Richards Dallas Morning News

Pete Sampras is too respectful to think his biggest adversary at the U.S. Open is history.

Sampras is the first to recognize there are two potential roadblocks that can stop his quest to tie Roy Emerson's record of 12 career Grand Slam championships.

First, there is a field that includes hardcourt rival Andre Agassi, defending U.S. Open champion Patrick Rafter, former No. 1 Marcelo Rios and Spaniards Carlos Moya and Alex Corretja. Then, there is the matter of his conditioning.

Sampras took four weeks off after Wimbledon and spent most of August trying to play himself into shape after having his schedule thrown off by minor foot surgery. Sampras struggled with his conditioning when he had to play two matches on the same day at the du Maurier Open in Toronto after rain postponed matches for one day.

``He's always the favorite,'' said Goran Ivanisevic, who lost to Sampras in the Wimbledon final. ``But I don't see him so well-conditioned. It will be tough for him to win.''

Agassi, who fell in the fourth round last year and later watched his ranking fall to 141, is back. He has two hardcourt victories over Sampras and won titles at the Sybase Open, Legg Mason Tennis Classic and Infinti Open this year to get him back in the top 10 of the rankings.

A U.S. Open victory would add another chapter in the rise, fall and rise of Agassi. He won the tournament as an unseeded player in 1994 and used the title as a launchpad to the No. 1 ranking he held for most of 1995. Sampras defeated Agassi in the 1995 final, which seemed to send Agassi into a career tailspin.

If there's to be a Sampras-Agassi matchup this year, it will occur in the quarterfinals because Agassi is seeded eighth. They are in the same bracket, and Agassi is coming off a three-set victory over Sampras at the du Maurier.

Although Rios briefly held the No. 1 spot this month, he is not playing like a No. 1, even on hardcourt. Rios, seeded second, is 1-3 on hardcourt this summer and has not won a title since beating Agassi in the Lipton Championships in March. Rios is the only No. 1 player never to win a Grand Slam in his career.

But there are other reasons to watch Rios. He is only the second player to win the Champions Cup and the Lipton in the same year. Rios has a favorable draw, but could have trouble if he reaches the quarterfinals. Seventh-seed Corretja, No. 10 Moya and unseeded Michael Chang are on the other side of the bracket and can provide grueling matches that will test Rios' questionable desire to fight in matches.

Third-seed Rafter slumped earlier this year but improved his play at Wimbledon and won the du Maurier and the ATP Championships with his serve-and-volley game. The timing couldn't be better, because Rafter has a dangerous draw.

He could face 1997 French Open champion Gustavo Kuerten in the third round and Todd Martin or Goran Ivanisevic in the fourth. If Rafter gets past that, he could face No. 12 Jonas Bjorkman, unseeded Cedric Pioline or No. 6 Greg Rusedski in the quarterfinals.

Moya and Corretja are better known for their claycourt prowess but can play on hardcourt. Moya reached the Australian Open final last year, and Corretja recently won the RCA Championships.

``It's not a bigger challenge (than the other Grand Slams), but I would say hardcourt is probably the most fair surface,'' Sampras said. ``There are a number of Spaniards who can play well. It's not any more difficult. I look at all surfaces being difficult.''

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PHOTO (Color) U.S. Open men's No. 1 seed Pete Sampras.

Associated Press