Sampras survives gruelling test

Pete Sampras was made to endure another gruelling four-set match in the Australian Open as he struggled to overcome Czech Bohdan Ulihrach in the second round in Melbourne.

After coming through what he described as a four-set "dog-fight" with Karol Kucera on Monday night - actually Tuesday morning by the time it finished - Sampras was forced to dig in after falling a break down.

He took the first set on the tie-break, and in the pressure of another tie-break in the second set he was the stronger of the two again.

Even at two sets down Ulihrach was not going to leave quietly. He won the third set 6-4, then broke again in the first game of the fourth set.

Sampras got the break back and had a match point at 5-4. Ulihrach saved it after a punishing rally, but after exactly three hours Sampras won 7-6 7-6 4-6 7-5.

Over on the Rod Laver Arena the night action had already started and glamour girl Anna Kournikova, the eighth seed, progressed safely 6-3 6-4 against Hungarian Rita Kuti Kis.