PARIS, May 27 (UPI) -- Pete Sampras' futility at the French Open continued Monday when he was ousted by Andrea Gaudenzi of Italy, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2, 7-6 (7-3) on the opening day of the Grand Slam event.
The French Open is the only major title that has eluded the 12th seed. The American has won a record 13 Grand Slams, but his best effort here was a semifinal finish in 1996. He has lost in the third round or earlier the last five years.
Sampras had won his three previous meetings with Gaudenzi, but his play seemed to fall apart in a match delayed several times by rain.
Broken to fall behind 4-2 in the third set, Sampras failed to convert on three break points. He soon lost his cool, throwing his racket against a side wall. Gaudenzi went on to win the set and later won the final five points of the fourth-set tiebreaker to close out the match.
Sampras has not won a singles title since his record-setting triumph at Wimbledon in 2000. He was knocked out in opening-round matches at Rome and Hamburg earlier this month.
Sampras' ouster was the major surprise on a rainy day in which second-seeded American Venus Williams advanced despite a wrist injury and several matches were postponed or suspended due to darkness.
Williams showed some of the effects of her recent ailment in a 65-minute, 6-3, 6-3 victory over Germany's Bianka Lamade.
On the men's side, top-seeded Lleyton Hewitt of Australia got past Brazilian Andre Sa, 7-5, 6-4, 7-5, and defending champion Gustavo Kuerten of Brazil rolled to a 7-5, 6-2, 6-2 victory over Ivo Heuberger of Switzerland.
Williams tried to pick up one too many bags before her second-round match at the Italian Open two weeks ago and was not able to train fully for the year's second Grand Slam. Playing the opening match on Court Philippe Chatrier, Williams hit 13 winners and five aces, but committed 41 unforced errors and six double faults against a 19-year-old German playing only her third match of the season.
The two-time defending champion at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, Williams, a 21-year-old American, leads the WTA Tour with four singles titles. In February, she rose to the No. 1 spot in the rankings for the first time in her career.
Hewitt was happy to emerge from the two-hour, 40-minute match victorious after falling in the opening round at the Australian Open, where he was still recovering from a bout of chicken pox.
The 21-year-old U.S. Open champion reached the semifinals at Barcelona and the quarterfinals at the Tennis Masters Series event in Hamburg. He was a quarterfinalist here last year.
Hewitt was distracted by the weather, which switched from sunny to rainy as play was stopped several times.
Kuerten, the seeded seventh, is trying to become only the fifth man, and the second in the Open Era after Bjorn Borg, to win the French Open three straight years. He has claimed the crown at Roland Garros three of the last five years.
The popular Brazilian's preparations for the French Open were hindered by hip surgery in February, but he needed only 93 minutes to defeat Heuberger.
Also Monday, No. 3 Tommy Haas of Germany defeated Michal Tabara of the Czech Republic, 6-3, 7-5, 6-4 and fifth seed and 1996 champion Yevgeny Kafelnikov of Russia was leading German qualifier Tomas Behrend, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 5-5 when play was suspended.
Australian Open champion Thomas Johansson, the ninth seed from Sweden, topped Argentina's Franco Squillari, 6-2, 7-6 (8-6), 6-2.
Other winners include two-time finalist Alex Corretja of Spain and No. 16 Younes El Aynaoui of Morroco. Corretja topped Bohdan Ulihrach of Czechoslovakia, 6-1, 6-4, 6-1 and El Aynaoui outlasted American Jan-Michael Gambill, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 6-4.
On the women's side, the only real surprise of the day saw Paola Suarez of Argentina defeat eighth seed Sandrine Testud of France, 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.
Fourth seed Kim Clijsters of Belgium was to play Tatiana Poutchek of Belarus, but the match was called off due to the numerous delays. Clijsters reached her first career Grand Slam final here last year, falling 1-6, 6-4, 12-10, to Jennifer Capriati in the longest third set of a French Open women's final.
This season, the 18-year-old Belgian bounced back from an upper right arm injury that kept her sidelined for six weeks to win her first title of the year at Hamburg three weeks ago.
The match between three-time champion Monica Seles of the United States and Spain's Angeles Montolio alo was postponed. Seles is 50-6 lifetime at Roland Garros and has never lost before the quarterfinals in nine appearances in Paris. She is coming off her second title of the year Sunday at the Madrid Open.
In earlier results, 10th seed Amelie Mauresmo of France beat countrywoman Camille Pin, 6-4, 6-1; No. 11 Daniela Hantuchova of Slovakia dispatched Cara Black of Zimbabwe, 6-2, 6-3; and 1997 winner Iva Majoli, the 29th seed from Croatia, defeated Kristina Brandi of the United States, 6-4, 6-3.
