MELBOURNE, Australia World number two Marat Safin withdrew and number three Pete Sampras suffered a heavy defeat on the first day of the Kooyong Classic Exhibition Tournament on Wednesday.

U.S. Open champion Safin withdrew from the round-robin exhibition after going down 6-2 6-1 to France's Nicolas Escude.

He said he was suffering from an elbow injury which prevented him serving properly and might not be able to play in next week's Australian Open.

"I will try to play on, but I know other players have had to have operations to cure this injury," the 20-year-old Russian said. "At the moment I'm afraid of making it worse."

Colin Stubs, the Kooyong Classic tournament director, said Safin had withdrawn as a "precautionary measure" with the Open in mind. Nicolas Lapentti of Ecuador was named as Safin's replacement.

The disappointing trend for the top names was bucked by Andre Agassi and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, last year's Australian Open champion and runner-up respectively, who were both impressive with their first-round victories over Nicolas Kiefer and Pat Rafter.

Sampras insisted there was no reason to doubt his chances at the Australian Open despite suffering a 6-2 6-4 defeat by Spain's Juan Carlos Ferrero.

Sampras, who last year surpassed Roy Emerson's record for Grand Slam titles when he secured his 13th honor with victory at Wimbledon, appeared rusty as he struggled to deal with the speed of the courts.

"I have had a lot of time off in recent months, and I found it difficult to adjust," said Sampras, who committed 22 unforced errors.

"I expected to play a bit better than I did, but there is no problem. It always takes me a couple of matches to find my touch again after a break, and I will feel in better shape before the Open starts."

Against Ferrero, Sampras called for the trainer at the end of the first set and was given two painkillers, but said there was no problem with his fitness.

Ferrero, 20, was the hero of Spain's Davis Cup triumph over Australia in December and displayed the same flair against Sampras.

"When I was growing up, we didn't have a clay court in my home town, so I have always practiced on hard courts," said Ferrero, who reached the semifinals of the French Open last year.

"I like the hard courts. I feel comfortable on them, and I feel I can do well at the Open."

Kafelnikov, the world number five, was as impressive as Rafter was disappointing in the Russian's 6-2 6-2 victory.

"My preparation for the Australian Open has never been better," said Kafelnikov.

"I feel fresh, I have my motivation back again, and I feel that when I step out on court, no one can beat me.

"There is no reason why I cannot go through the draw at the open and do all the way again."

Rafter, the Australian number two behind Lleyton Hewitt, would dearly love to feel the same way.

Rafter, whose best performance at the Australian Open was a fourth-round placing in 1995, said: "The Australian Open is definitely a piece of unfinished business for me.

(Reuter)