AUSTRALIAN OPEN Defending champion Capriati eliminated in first round

Andre Agassi dropped Brian Vahaly in three sets.
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Jennifer Capriati became the first defending women's champion in the Open era to lose in the first round of the Australian Open, tumbling out of the Grand Slam event today with a shocking loss to Marlene Weingartner.
Capriati, who won her first Grand Slam championship at Melbourne Park in 2001 and successfully defended the title last year, won the first set 6-2 and led 4-2 in the second.
But her German rival, ranked No. 98 at the end of 2002, rallied to take the second set 7-6 (6) and the third 6-4, with Capriati dumping a forehand into the net on match point.
She had 10 double faults and 41 errors, while Weingartner had five double faults and 52 unforced errors.
Venus Williams and Andre Agassi advanced to the second round, where Agassi seeks his third title in four years and Williams tries to prevent a "Serena Slam" by her younger sister.
After falling behind 0-3 because of some wildness, Williams used a stronger serve to carry her through 6-4, 6-2 over 45th-ranked Svetlana Kuznetsova. She and the 17-year-old Russian were nearly even in errors.
"I'm just a little rusty," Williams said. "I didn't expect to be 100 percent in this match, but in the next one I expect to be at least 150."
Agassi overcame Brian Vahaly 7-5, 6-3, 6-3. He broke serve eight times against Vahaly, a former All-American at the University of Virginia.
Major goal
Serena Williams starts action Tuesday against France's Emilie Loit. She is seeking a "Serena Slam," in which she would hold all four of tennis' major titles at the same time.
Serena missed a chance for a true Grand Slam -- all four majors in one calendar year -- when she twisted her ankle just before last year's Australian Open. She went on to beat her sister in the finals at the French and U.S. Opens and Wimbledon.
Asked about beating Serena in this tournament, Venus said: "I wouldn't exactly say that's my goal. My goal is to be my best. I guess if Serena wins a slam, then I'll be there congratulating her."
In her last tournament before the Australian Open, Venus limped off with a lower leg strain while trailing Kim Clijsters 5-0 in the semifinals of the WTA Tour Championships in early November.
Paradorn Srichaphan, seeded 11th, opened play on center by beating Austrian Jurgen Melzer 7-5, 6-4, 1-6, 6-0.
"It's really special for me to play the first match on Monday, to open a Grand Slam, and I appreciate it," said Paradorn, who won two titles last year and beat Agassi at Wimbledon. Paradorn also beat No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt and No. 3 Marat Safin during the year.
Other matches
In another Asian victory, South Korean Lee Hyung-taik, fresh from winning a warmup tournament in Sydney, beat Spain's David Ferrer 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3.
Anna Kournikova, unseeded after a year in which she lost in the first round at all four Grand Slams, defeated Slovakia's Henrieta Nagyova 6-1, 6-2.
French Open champion Albert Costa needed more than three hours for a 6-4, 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) victory over German qualifier David Prinosil.
Costa, seeded eighth, reached the Top 10 for the first time last year despite skipping Wimbledon to concentrate on his new marriage. He wed longtime girlfriend Cristina Ventura five days after winning at Roland Garros.
No. 5 Carlos Moya defeated Belgian Dick Norman 7-5, 6-3, 6-4, No. 12 Sebastien Grosjean, a semifinalist in 2001, beat Fernando Meligeni 6-4, 6-2, 6-3, and No. 14 Guillermo Canas beat Vladimir Voltchkov of Belarus 6-3, 7-5, 6-3.
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