BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati Enquirer
MASON -- Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi will not meet in the final of the 1998 Great American Insurance ATP Championship.
They will not meet in the semifinals.
The popular American players, who have combined to win the last three ATP titles, ended up in the same quarterfinal bracket after Friday's draw for the Mercedes Super 9 tournament, which begins Monday at the ATP Tennis Center.
"Switch it. Make it interesting," came the cries from the crowd.
Agassi beat Sampras 6-7 (7-4), 6-1, 6-2 Friday night in the quarterfinals of the du Maurier Open in Toronto.
There's no guarantee, of course, that they make it that far here. Agassi's first-round match is against 21-year-old German star Nicolas Kiefer, who looks, dresses and plays like Agassi. If Agassi gets past that match, he's got the winner of young American standouts Vince Spadea and Justin Gimelstob.
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WITHDRAWALS
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Several players had to pull out of the ATP because of injuries, including popular Brazilian Gustavo Kuerten (arm), the 1997 French Open champion who is ranked 24th. Also withdrawing Friday: No. 6 Greg Rusedski (ankle), No. 18 Thomas Enqvist (foot), No. 26 Francisco Clavet (wrist), No. 40 Marc Rosset (tendinitis) and No. 83 Brett Steven (personal).
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In Sampras' path could be Mark Woodforde, who defeated the No. 1-ranked Sampras at Queen's Club in June, just before Wimbledon.
In the same bracket is another young American rising star Jan-Michael Gambill and Ramon Delgado, who beat Sampras at the French Open.
The second-toughest path to the final belongs to No. 5 seed Patrick Rafter, who was nevertheless picked to get to the championship match by fellow Australian and a very biased Fred Stolle.
"I'm going to put Rafter through," Stolle said, after dismissing all potential opponents.
The easiest routes to the semifinals belong to No. 2-seeded Marcelo Rios and No. 4 Carlos Moya, who is making his ATP debut.
"Look for Rios to get through here if he's interested in playing well," Stolle said.
First-round matchups to watch:
- No. 12-ranked Tim Henman vs. No. 21 Thomas Muster, last year's ATP runner-up. Henman defeated Muster in four sets in the first round of the 1997 U.S. Open;
- Gimelstob vs. Spadea;
- Rising German star Tommy Haas vs. American Jim Courier.
Best potential second-round matchups:
- Agassi vs. Gimelstob for the second time in two weeks;
- Goran Ivanisevic, the Wimbledon runner-up, vs. Aussie Mark Philippoussis.
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